It’s hard to mo
ve the harp.
This is only partly because it is heavy. Mostly because I’m so picky–I mean careful. Imagine handing your 42 pound 5’7″ baby over to someone you don’t know! But that is just what I had to do this weekend.
On Friday night, I had the privilege of playing at Elkhart Has Talent, the fund raiser for Bashor Children’s Home. I live just up the road from the Bashor, a faith based resource for troubled children and families. Next to heartwarming effect of helping a good cause, the best part about supporting Bashor was performing in the Lerner Theater.
The Lerner–this grand remodeled theater not only has beautiful lights and breathtaking acoustics and private dressing rooms–it has stage hands whom I trust. The men wearing black shirts and ear pieces carefully listened to my explanations and then gently moved my harp with their strong hands.
For the first time in my playing career, I let a non-harp person wheel my baby out on stage. That way, when the lights came on, I could make an entrance–and th
e harp could make an impression.
It’s hard to move a harp. But it is worth it.
People’s hearts are much more fragile than instruments. They go out of tune with time, warp in the heat and break if dropped by another who should love them. And when they need to move forward, you desperately want strong stage hands you can trust.
That is why I was honored to play a part in fund raising for Bashor Children’s Home. While I am careful about my harps, they put ten times more care and attention into every aspect of reaching troubled teens. Through the strong but gentle hands of education, residential programs and foster care, Bashor moves teens out of bad situations back stage to performing well on life’s stage.
It is hard to move a heart. But it’s worth it.