11th Day of Christmas

ON THE ELEVENTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS MY TRUE LOVE GAVE TO ME, eleven pipers piping.

I am not extremely musically inclined, at least I think not. I understand those who are not so inclined probably didn't like the day about worship. That's fine. Not only do I understand that some people don't like to sing, I think there are some people who shouldn't sing at all. Throughout the history of sports, the national anthem has been butchered in so many ways it isn't funny- those are the kind of people who shouldn't think so highly of their talent. As for me, I have played a few instruments in my day, but I don't consider myself extremely talented. These eleven guys play music, pipe music to be exactly. They jingle and tingle their flutes all day long, alongside a bunch of birds and angry ladies in the Twelve Days of Christmas. They can actually play music and sound good, which is better than I could say I do. However, I have tried to learn a variety of instruments.

I once played in a fife band. Don't know what a fife band is? Me either. I just know it involved an angry, drunk Irishman and a lot of home schooled nerds like myself playing dorky instruments like the snare drum and the flute. It was cool for a while, but playing the snare drum doesn't always impress the ladies. I played the piano for years and have only lately begun to play it well at all. I play the guitar and actually have a few of them that are actually worth something. However, by no means do I claim to know all there is about the instruments I play. I can actually hardly fine tune the instruments. But I enjoy playing them; they help me zone out during a long and stressful day, so naturally I play them all the time!

The eleventh day stands for the eleven faithful disciples. They were the guys who followed Jesus through thick and thin and no matter what, they stood in faith that Jesus wasn't a crazy guy talking a whole lot of bologna. That would be a tough thing to deal with. I am sure they had moments during their journey with Jesus when doubts rose up about the validity of what the man did, as they enemy would have loved for them to think. However, they remained faithful, and for that, they were heavily rewarded.

We are all called unto God's kingdom, to follow his will. When we start that journey, we naturally have feelings of apprehension, of doubt. We aren't sure that what we got ourselves into was actually the real deal. When I started playing instruments, I had to be faithful. No Mozart is born the first time they are placed behind the keys. Overtime, they develop an ability to float along the keys and compose incredible works of art at the drop of a hat. It takes time though. Same with our relationship with Christ. I have seen too many people fall by the wayside early on because they didn't get past their doubts and trust fully. Doubt stood in the way. Maybe the eleventh day is about just that- overcoming doubt. Indeed, overcoming doubt is a component of faith, but it involves something that faith doesn't. Doubt reminds us that we are human, that we aren't in total control and have a hard time thinking anybody is in control of anything. But that's the call of the eleventh day, the same call of the disciples- the eleventh day is about overcoming doubt.

KB