Song - he handed it to me
For my entire life I can remember the violin. It lived on a shelf in mom and dad's closet. Obviously it was old and from outward appearances it wasn't in great shape. The strings were loose and ragged, the bridge was warped, and there was a small crack in the top that had been repaired at some time. And the case in was practically falling apart. From time to time Dad would tell us the story. "When I was a boy", he'd say, "I watched my dad build this violin from hand. He carved the scroll with a pocket knife and used a piece of curved glass to shape the arched top." When I was a kid it seemed fantastic, but as an adult I found it almost unbelievable. My grandfather - PaPa to us - was not a violin maker. As far as we know this is the only one he ever built. And no one in our family was a violinist. So we don't really know how he did it or why, but here it is. At some point Dad gave it to me to keep at my house, where it once again sat on a shelf. For at least the last 60 years it had not been played. And maybe it never had.
A couple of years ago I decided to have the violin checked over to see if it could be made playable. I took it to a gentleman who was able to do the work, replacing the strings, sound post and bridge. Sometimes when I perform I ask a violinist to play with me as I play the piano and sing, since several of my songs lend themselves to that treatment. I thought, "how cool would it be if someone played PaPa's violin on one of my songs. And so it was that in July of 2019 an audience heard "the violin" for the first time, played beautifully by Rebekah Howard George.
As I thought of how sad it is that this instrument's beauty and potential sat unappreciated for so many years, I realized the same thing happens in the life of a person who rejects Christ's love, compassion and salvation. And "He Handed It To Me" came to life.
A couple of years ago I decided to have the violin checked over to see if it could be made playable. I took it to a gentleman who was able to do the work, replacing the strings, sound post and bridge. Sometimes when I perform I ask a violinist to play with me as I play the piano and sing, since several of my songs lend themselves to that treatment. I thought, "how cool would it be if someone played PaPa's violin on one of my songs. And so it was that in July of 2019 an audience heard "the violin" for the first time, played beautifully by Rebekah Howard George.
As I thought of how sad it is that this instrument's beauty and potential sat unappreciated for so many years, I realized the same thing happens in the life of a person who rejects Christ's love, compassion and salvation. And "He Handed It To Me" came to life.