When I was studying for my Bachelor of Arts degree, I started with the piano as my main instrument.
As part of the curriculum, I had to take a complementary instrument, and the cello was the instrument I enrolled in.
After the first year of school using one of the school’s cellos, my parents made the effort and bought me a cello so I could use it on my own time, since there was no way I could carry the school instruments home.
Before I had my own cello, when I went to school I only carried a few books, notebooks, and copies of sheet music. And that was enough, since the acoustic piano is obviously not portable.
When the time came for me to have my own cello, I found myself in a situation I hadn’t anticipated. As obvious as it might have been to someone else, it was a new situation for me. I had to prepare myself to go in and out of the house with the cello.
The cello is a large instrument, and back then I had a Volkswagen car, called a “beattle,” which was one of the smallest at the time. A large instrument, a small car, and time to fit it into the available space.
Once I arrived at school with my instrument, I couldn’t sit anywhere; I had to find a space almost three people deep so I could fit my cello close to me and make sure it wasn’t in anyone’s way or that no one would accidentally kick it.
All these changes were new to me; I couldn’t have anticipated them because I had no previous similar experience.
Over time, I learned the care the instrument required, which I hadn’t been exposed to before. It took me a long time to gain a clearer understanding of the care and details that an instrument like the cello required of me. Since I had previously only been used to the piano, it became a lot for me.
With time and the newness, I learned that it was best to take my time with everything and try to prepare myself as best as possible. My life as a cellist wasn’t the same as it was as a pianist.
This situation helped me navigate another stage of my life.
When I was a young mother, leaving the house with young daughters was quite an ordeal. With my first daughter, I discovered I had to carefully plan what I was going to put in the diaper bag, calculate where we were going, and for how long. These details helped me know how many diapers, changes of clothes, and extra food I would take.
At first, it took me a while to think, but then it became easier with practice, and when my second daughter was born, it wasn’t difficult at all. As a mother, I learned to do several things at the same time. And on other occasions, precisely because I wanted to do several things at once, I ended up forgetting other important matters.
Without realizing it, I developed a habit of trying to prepare for almost everything, if not everything, hahaha.
What’s your experience? Do you benefit from planning your activities in detail? Or do you let things flow on their own?
For you, what works best?
In the Gospel, there’s a moment when Jesus tells his disciples to go and proclaim the good news, and not to carry money or money in their backpacks, and he tells them not to stop. And if that weren’t enough, he tells them that he’s sending them out as lambs among wolves.
Oh… Okay… Hmmmm… I mean, what?
And what about preparation, provisions, plans, and precautions?
And in addition to my own experience, in different areas of my life, from many people and in different contexts, I’ve heard the benefit of preparing in advance to prevent contingencies. Even Jesus himself says it at another point, when he recounts the mockery of a man who doesn’t plan and doesn’t finish his construction.
So, what could Jesus’ message be about? Is he asking us to also trust in his providence and not just in our plans?
I’m not sure I need to go into detail, but there were (and still are) times when my plans didn’t turn out as I anticipated. And yet, God provides.
If the Spirit leads you, share your plans and projects with Jesus the Carpenter. And perhaps, your trust in Jesus will show you a new, different path, one where you lack nothing to fulfill the mission of your heart.
Marisol
P.S. We can hear about Jesus’ instructions to the disciples in the readings for the Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year/Cycle C.
