Angela Hewitt is considered one of the world’s leading classical pianists. All her European recordings over the last seventeen years were performed on her Fazioli F278 concert grand piano, the only one in the world with four pedals. The instrument was kept at her home in Italy and valued at over $200,000.
Two weeks ago, movers came to her recording studio to tell her they had “dropped” it.
“The iron frame is broken, as well as much else in the structure and action (not to mention the lid and other parts of the case),” she wrote on Facebook. “It’s kaput.”
Hewitt is now dealing with her insurance and hopes to travel in the next few months to Sacile, Italy, where Faziolis are made, to pick a new one. But it won’t replace what she lost. “I adored this piano,” she wrote. “It was my best friend, best companion. I loved how it felt when I was recording—giving me the possibility to do anything I wanted.”
“Now it is no longer.”
Two ways to change the world
Angela Hewitt’s now-ruined piano was so valuable for two reasons: how unique it was and how it made her feel to play it.
Our value to others is based on the same two factors.
God made you like no other human being. Not just with your DNA and fingerprints, but with your gifts and abilities. Your education and experiences, your challenges and limitations, your successes and failures have all blended into the uniqueness that is you.
As a result, you can serve God and others in a way no one else can. When you try to be what you’re not, you keep us from experiencing what you are. Like a jigsaw puzzle, your piece fills a gap no one else can. You’re a piano like no other.
Your uniqueness as yourself leads to the uniqueness of your impact on others. You make them feel what no one else can make them feel, enabling them to be and do what they could not otherwise be and do.
Think about the people in Scripture who most influenced the world. Could Isaac have done what Abraham did? Could Jacob have replaced Joseph? Could Peter and Paul have exchanged ministries effectively?
Consider the people who most influenced American history. Could Thomas Jefferson have led the colonial army? Could George Washington have written the Declaration of Independence?
Now think about the people who most influence you: Is their impact on you interchangeable or irreplaceable?
Our culture rewards those who fit in. But what we need are those who stand out.
Which will you choose to be today?
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