{"id":35800,"date":"2024-02-14T05:32:23","date_gmt":"2024-02-14T13:32:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=35800"},"modified":"2024-02-14T14:22:49","modified_gmt":"2024-02-14T22:22:49","slug":"developing-character-for-life-as-a-violin-apprentice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/developing-character-for-life-as-a-violin-apprentice\/","title":{"rendered":"Developing Character for Life as a Violin Apprentice"},"content":{"rendered":"

My violin teacher threw a pencil at me. I grabbed it in mid-air.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNope. You caught it. <\/span>Try<\/span><\/i> to catch it.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I was confused. \u201cBut I did catch it,\u201d I protested.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI want you to TRY to catch it,\u201d she repeated.<\/span><\/p>\n

She threw the pencil at me again.<\/span><\/p>\n

It twisted through the air as it flew across the room but with a little more effort this time, I caught it again.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

She reiterated, \u201cNo. Stop and think about it. How do you TRY to catch it? Either you catch it\u2026 or you don\u2019t. You can\u2019t \u2018try\u2019.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If I had been in a cartoon, the light bulb would have suddenly appeared over my head.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Now she explained, \u201cThere is no \u2018try\u2019. Either you do it, or you don\u2019t.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Point taken: stop saying, \u201cI\u2019ll try” when she asks me to do something challenging that will make the music better. Just trust her, make the attempt, and fix as I go.<\/span><\/p>\n

[In <\/span>The Empire Strikes Back<\/span><\/i> (1980) Yoda said, \u201cDo or do not. There is no try.\u201d I wonder (in retrospect) if that\u2019s where she got the idea. This event occurred around 1983.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Decades later, of all the private lessons I had with Linda Laderach over three years in college about how to play violin and make music, this is the lesson that stands out most clearly in my mind.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This is leadership. Yes, I was her apprentice in music, but more importantly, I was her apprentice in life. I now studiously avoid the words, \u201cI\u2019ll try\u201d (when I can catch myself), and commit to doing something\u2026 or not doing it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Studying violin in college was like a leadership (and life) incubator because I learned other lessons during this time as well.<\/span><\/p>\n

When I was a first-year in the college orchestra (at a woman\u2019s college we don\u2019t say \u201cfreshman\u201d), I was placed in the second chair next to the concertmaster, a woman who was a senior. We started to get to know each other a bit. I often heard her practicing in the music building\u2019s practice rooms late at night. (I preferred practicing first thing in the morning, when I was fresh.) During orchestra rehearsals, she would often lean over to me and suggest how to play a tough measure or bounce my bow for a certain effect.<\/span><\/p>\n

The first few times that happened, I had to make a decision: I could protect my ego by smiling, nodding, and then ignoring her. Or I could humble myself to learn from an older, more experienced student. At the age of 18, I thought I knew a lot. Fortunately, something within me allowed me to swallow my pride and take these mini-lessons from her.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t remember a thing she said to me (I am even struggling to remember her name, though I remember what she looked like), but I do remember the value of taking feedback with humility. That was something I had to learn at that point in my life\u2026 and am still being reminded about regularly!<\/span><\/p>\n

In her book, <\/span>Leadersmithing<\/span><\/i>, Eve Poole spends a chapter discussing character. I would chalk up these learning experiences to character formation at a critical time in my young adult life.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Poole explains that \u201cWhen we meet virtuous people, people of \u2018good character\u2019, there is something durable and reliable about them. Their values are the core of their being. They cannot avoid being virtuous, it is somehow in their DNA. Character is not about doing but about being. It is not an activity, but an intrinsic property\u2026 This brand, this guarantee of virtue and honour, is extraordinarily powerful\u201d [1] .<\/span><\/p>\n

As Christian leaders, I agree compeletely that character is not about what we do; it\u2019s about who we are becoming in Christ. (As a side note, I think it\u2019s interesting that she talks about it as your \u201cbrand\u201d. That\u2019s worthy of another blog post.)<\/span><\/p>\n

Poole goes on, regarding character: it\u2019s \u201cwhat defines you as a leader. This is the stuff you are made of. In this context, it becomes the essence of your personal brand\u2026 It is all you have left when everything else falls away\u201d[2].<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve thought quite a bit about character over the last few years. I have written (and am editing) some books that, together, describe what I call Integrated Discipleship. In my manuscript I contend that \u201cthe central task of the church is character transformation: inviting and guiding people to become more like Jesus Christ. Too many churches struggle to do this effectively.\u201d[3]\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I also write about what I call the ABCs of discipleship: Attitude, Behavior, and Character, which are informed by your values and identity. <\/span>Values<\/span><\/i> are the beliefs and principles that guide your behavior and decision-making; they are the core ideas and standards that individuals – or societies – consider important. Your <\/span>identity<\/span><\/i> is your sense of self; who you are and to whom you belong. Identity is always in relation to others.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Your <\/span>attitude<\/span><\/i> is what you think and how you think it. Your <\/span>character<\/span><\/i> is what you would do automatically, without thinking, if no one were watching. And your <\/span>behavior<\/span><\/i> is the outward expression of all these traits and characteristics.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I love how Poole emphasizes \u201ctemplating\u201d to be prepared for any scenario, to give your brain and your body practice for stressful situations.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Although I’m surprised Poole doesn’t mention it, this reminds me of practicing as a musician; the muscle memory that is necessary to avoid slip-ups in the tricky passages of music, just as in life.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We do need to \u201ctemplate\u201d or practice our Christ-like values, identity, attitudes, and behaviors. That helps us develop the character of Jesus Christ, and we can only do that through practice, practice, practice. If we want to know what Jesus\u2019s values were, read the Sermon on the Mount every day for a month. That will shift your values from what the world thinks is important and dramatically transform your character! Then develop a Rule of Life that helps you practice the character you aspire to.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I think again about the profound impact my college violin teacher had on my life. She was the master and I was the apprentice. Dallas Willard uses the same term to describe how we are apprentices of Jesus, and how that intentional apprenticeship is life-altering:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cA disciple, or apprentice, is simply someone who has decided to be with another person, under appropriate conditions, in order to become capable of doing what that person does or to become what that person is. How does this apply to discipleship to Jesus?…\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The answer is found in the Gospels: he lives in the kingdom of God, and he applies that kingdom for the good of others and even makes it possible for them to enter it for themselves\u2026\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As a disciple of Jesus I am with him, by choice and by grace, learning from him how to live in the kingdom of God. This is the crucial idea. That means, we recall, how to live within the range of God\u2019s effective will, his life through mine. Or, I am learning from Jesus to live my life as he would live my life if he were I\u2026 I am learning how to do everything I do in the manner that he did all that he did.\u201d [4]<\/span><\/p>\n

Christlike character only comes through apprenticeship to the Master and daily practice. What will you do today, as Jesus\u2019s apprentice? And how will that build your Christlike character as a leader?<\/span><\/p>\n

=====================<\/p>\n

[1] Eve Poole,\u00a0Leadersmithing; Revealing the Trade Secrets of Leadership<\/em>. (New York, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2017), 49.<\/p>\n

[2] Ibid., 50.<\/p>\n

[3] Deborah Owen,\u00a0From the Inside Out; Experiencing New Life in Christ with the Neuro-based Enneagram and Integrated Discipleship<\/em>. Unpublished manuscript.<\/p>\n

[4] Dallas Willard,\u00a0The Divine Conspiracy; Rediscovering Our Hidden Life in God<\/em>. (New York, HarperSanFrancisco, 1997), 282-283.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My violin teacher threw a pencil at me. I grabbed it in mid-air. \u201cNope. You caught it. Try to catch it.\u201d\u00a0 I was confused. \u201cBut I did catch it,\u201d I protested. \u201cI want you to TRY to catch it,\u201d she repeated. She threw the pencil at me again. It twisted through the air as it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":197,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2967,2091,2090],"class_list":["post-35800","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-dlgp03","tag-leadersmithing","tag-poole","cohort-dlgp03"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35800","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/197"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35800"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35800\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35812,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35800\/revisions\/35812"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35800"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}