The Piano

[Editor's note: Not all of our ~6,000 readers get to read The Presbyterian Record, so I couldn't resist adapting this part of a story that appeared in the October 2009 issue, with the permission of the publisher and the author.]

John 6:44 – No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last day. (NRSV)

David Vuckson was raised in Collingwood, Ontario, Canada, where he attended First Presbyterian Church. Eventually, he drifted away from home and from his faith. He moved to the west coast where he pursued his profession — tuning pianos — not giving much thought to his Creator. One day while working in the music shop, one of his colleagues mentioned that they had acquired a Bell piano taken in on consignment.

"I learned to play on a Bell back home in Ontario, so I decided to check out the old piano," recalls David. "I thought, 'Hey, it has the same scroll work as mom's old piano. And it has nicks and scrapes in the same places ours did.'"

This was too much of a coincidence for David, so he removed a key in the lower register, and found his own signature and the date: Dec. 3, 1965. His childhood piano had followed him from Ontario to Vancouver Island, and showed up where David worked to send him a message.

He elaborated: "The moment I saw it was my old boyhood piano, it was as if all my boyhood came flooding back to me, and with it, memories of my boyhood faith."

The Holy Spirit used this improbable "coincidence" to tap David on the shoulder. And most importantly, David heard the voice. "Pam and I joined an Alpha group and reaffirmed our adult faith."

David bought the piano and donated it to St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, where it sits in St. Andrew's social suite as a reminder both of the lengths to which God will go, and that He will use the language we know best to remind us where home is.

Prayer: Thank You, Lord, for abundant evidence that You are alive and well, and active in this world, drawing people to Yourself in amazing ways, through the power of Your Holy Spirit. Draw each of us closer to Yourself today in some unexpected way. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.

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