Blessed Are the Flexible

. . . for they shall not be bent out of shape. Even when someone adds "bi" to metallics and takes way too many points and robs the joy of the moment from his little sister.

This weekend was our annual Suzuki Association of Minnesota workshop, complete with annual meeting. I am president elect of this organization of strings, harps, guitars, flutes, and pianos.

Our piano teacher's organization is a sub-group of S.A.M. We are a separate non-profit but we do a lot of projects together. We are a well-oiled machine. When one of us sneezes the other reaches for the tissue. When one is stressed, the other finishes the job. We know who to call to get the job done.

I'm not used to the S.A.M. way yet. I'm truly worried that they just won't like having a pianist (the first non-string) president next year. Maybe they just don't like me. Maybe I'm a broken cog in their well-oiled machine. But, I noticed there wasn't a contender for the position and they did vote me in.

Ah, the workshop. Our clinician was wonderful. But. . . the organization of the piano portion of this weekend's workshop was a little dicey to say the least. We were in danger of not having rooms with pianos for awhile (I offered my home, but the MacPhail gang figured it out). The payment info was inconsistent and there was the little issue of paying our clinician. I don't know the avenues of communication yet, and I don't know their system or in some cases, lack thereof. (Forgive the tone. . . ) Too many cooks in the kitchen and no-one has the whole recipe.

Blessed are the flexible for they shall not be bent out of shape.

I was a little bent out of shape. And I'm guessing even though I have been a member of S.A.M. for 17 years, they are highly skeptical of me as well. So I lost a little sleep. And I wondered if I made a mistake taking this on.

And I woke up and went to yoga. Sometimes the Holy Spirit speaks to me through the yoga teacher. I'm only half joking. She, the yoga teacher that is, opened the class with the quote, "Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape."

And then she played this song. "One Voice."
Link to "One Voice."

And I realized that maybe I was not being flexible. And I knew suddenly that the next two years of S.A.M. leadership would be okay. Our one voice is to support teachers, and parents, and students. Maybe I can be a little less of a rusty cog and just add a little oil to their machine. Our machine. Blessed are the flexible for they will not be bent out of shape.

This is the sound of all of us
Singing with love and the will to trust
leave the rest behind it will turn to dust
this is the sound of all of us