Put, put, put. Jordan pulled to the side of the road as the car ran out of gas. Homework assignments and an appointment to pick up the new Graham house piano were all laughed away in the midst of the fact that we had just run out of gas in this metropolis. Luke and I began the hike to the gas station, but had only gone a few hundred yards when David from Wheaton's cafeteria pulled over to give us a lift. I hesitated only out of politeness, but he grinned back: "Do not be afraid! Jump in."
Within minutes we were back on the road to pick up our piano. It wasn't anything special, aside from the fact that it was free. It took all 5 of us and some ingenuity to get the piano up into the truck. It was the heaviest upright piano I had ever touched.
When we returned from the Graham house, our next dilemma was that no one was around. There was no way Jordan, Luke, and I were going to unload the piano on our own so we planned to wait patiently. It didn't take long til we needed a new adventure which could only involve a piano in the back of a truck - I've always wanted to play piano on the back of a truck while driving through town. I briefly checked the stability of the piano, since we had taken the ratched straps off. Jordan grabbed his guitar and we began making the rounds through campus, playing "Can you Feel the Love Tonight," "Pianoman," and "In the Jungle."
Public Safety began following us... o boy. "Better head back to the Graham house," I called to Luke from the back of the truck. He pulled in the driveway behind us and began his investigation. Of course, we thought he would be concerned for our safety - driving around city streets with people and instruments in the back of the truck. No way. "You know this looks a little fishy don't you? How do I know you didn't steal this piano from the dorm lounge." Seriously? I almost wanted to declare my rights to remain silent and go have some ice cream, but I figured I better not make him anymore suspicious.
After he finished and departed Luke pulled the truck around to back up towards our front porch. You may guess what happened next, considering the fact that the straps were still absent from the piano. I gasped with mixed delight and horror as 800 pounds of music tipped over the side of the truck shattering on Washington Street. Countless hours of work, ingenuity, and craftsmanship had gone into this instrument. It had seen countless hours of songs and delight. We had just spent our entire afternoon straining our backs and then enjoying its street performance ability.
I think we all were laughing. It was however, that nervous laugh. That laugh that comes with a mix of horror, amazement, and pure glee of seeing something you didn't ever expect to see. I couldn't help but reflect on our joy that night. We barely cared that we had wasted our afternoon and destroyed a beautiful instrument. It was worth it. And yet, if we had put 200$ into the venture, we probably would have been horrified, distressed, and dare I say mad at God? You see as soon as we invest in something, we assume God's blessing. It doesn't matter that the creator is fully able to give and take away at his whisper.
I'm still chuckling that we were able to have that experience and laugh with joy together. I hope that when my house burns down, my leg is broken, and the neighbor throws a baseball through my front picture window, that I will be able to laugh with the same delight. Let me hold things loosely with great joy as I watch blessings come and go.
