{"id":59955,"date":"2011-08-25T22:22:31","date_gmt":"2011-08-25T22:22:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/thesmokingpriest\/?p=59955"},"modified":"2011-08-25T22:22:31","modified_gmt":"2011-08-25T22:22:31","slug":"important-lessons-from-a-poor-mexican-guitar-player","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thesmokingpriest\/2011\/08\/important-lessons-from-a-poor-mexican-guitar-player.html","title":{"rendered":"Important Lessons from a Poor Mexican Guitar Player"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cLadies and gentlemen, I am going to play a few songs for you.\u00a0 I hope that you like my music.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

These were the words the poor Mexican guitar player spoke as he suddenly jumped aboard an old bus as it travelled up the Mexican Pacific Coast.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The poor Mexican guitar player stood in the middle of the bus and began to sing beautiful folk songs as he leaned against one of the seats to keep himself from falling. Our unexpected guest was a perfect tenor.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As I listened with delight, I began to feel much better.\u00a0 The poor Mexican guitar player reminded me how beneficial good music is for the soul.<\/span><\/p>\n

The challenges that we face are many.\u00a0 It is easy to feel overwhelmed at times.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Saint Augustine once wrote: \u201cWhy do we now live in anxiety?\u00a0 Can you expect me not to feel anxious when I read: Is not man\u2019s life on earth a time of trial?<\/em>\u00a0 Can you expect me not to feel anxious when the words still ring in my ears: Watch and pray that you will not be put to the test?\u00a0 <\/em>Can you expect me not to feel anxious\u00a0 when there are so many temptations here below that prayer itself reminds us of them, when we say: Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us?\u00a0 <\/em>Every day we make our petitions, every day we sin.\u00a0 Do you want me to feel secure when I am daily asking pardon for my sins, and requesting help in time of trial?\u00a0 Because of my past sins I pray: Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, <\/em>and then, because of the perils still before me, I immediately go on to add: Lead us not into temptation<\/em>.\u00a0 How can all be well with people who are crying out with me: Deliver us from evil?<\/em>\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Nevertheless, the poor Mexican guitar player reminded me that although we go through many trials and tribulations during our earthly journey to eternity, we must always sing.\u00a0 We sing with hope and joy because God is faithful.\u00a0 \u201cSing to the Lord and new song.\u00a0 Sing to the Lord, all the earth\u201d <\/em>(Psalm 96: 1).<\/span><\/p>\n

We do live in difficult times.\u00a0 Thomas Paine wrote: \u201cThese are the times that try men\u2019s souls.\u201d\u00a0 However, people of faith who firmly believe that God is faithful must never be discouraged.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now is the time to struggle, but always with a song.\u00a0 In eternity, we can sing forever.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Saint Augustine affirms this idea when he says: \u201cO the happiness of the heavenly alleluia, sung in security, in fear of no adversity!\u00a0 We shall have no enemies in heaven; we shall never lose a friend.\u00a0 God\u2019s praises are sung both there and here, but here they are sung in anxiety, there, in security;\u00a0 here they are sung by those destined to die, there, by those destined to live forever; here they are sung in hope, there, in hope\u2019s fulfillment; here they are sung by wayfarers, there, by those living in their own country.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

As the bus travelled along a very bumpy road, the poor Mexican guitar player continued to sing.\u00a0 However, suddenly he had to stop because one of his guitar strings broke unexpectedly.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I turned to him and asked him what he was going to do.\u00a0 Serenely he told me that he was going to fix it and sing again tomorrow.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cLadies and gentlemen, I am going to play a few songs for you.\u00a0 I hope that you like my music.\u201d These were the words the poor Mexican guitar player spoke as he suddenly jumped aboard an old bus as it travelled up the Mexican Pacific Coast.\u00a0 The poor Mexican guitar player stood in the middle…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":382,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,43,85,83],"tags":[47,28,30,51,29,27],"class_list":["post-59955","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-catholic-spirituality","category-friendship","category-inspiration","category-jesus","tag-discouragement","tag-hope","tag-inspiration","tag-joy","tag-motivation","tag-spirituality"],"yoast_head":"\nImportant Lessons from a Poor Mexican Guitar Player - The Smoking Priest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thesmokingpriest\/2011\/08\/important-lessons-from-a-poor-mexican-guitar-player.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Important Lessons from a Poor Mexican Guitar Player - The Smoking Priest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cLadies and gentlemen, I am going to play a few songs for you.\u00a0 I hope that you like my music.\u201d These were the words the poor Mexican guitar player spoke as he suddenly jumped aboard an old bus as it travelled up the Mexican Pacific Coast.\u00a0 The poor Mexican guitar player stood in the middle…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thesmokingpriest\/2011\/08\/important-lessons-from-a-poor-mexican-guitar-player.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Smoking Priest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-08-25T22:22:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Father James Farfaglia\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Important Lessons from a Poor Mexican Guitar Player - The Smoking Priest","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thesmokingpriest\/2011\/08\/important-lessons-from-a-poor-mexican-guitar-player.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Important Lessons from a Poor Mexican Guitar Player - 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