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Good morning.

There is a story told of a concert given by Itzhak Perlman, the virtuoso violinist.

Perlman, who was stricken with polio as a child, has braces on both legs and walks with the aid of crutches.Ìý So, getting on stage and preparing to play is perhaps somewhat time consuming.

On this particular evening, so the story goes, having reached his chair, he sat down, placed his crutches on the floor, undid the clasps on his legs, bent down and picked up his violin, put it under his chin, and finally began to play.

But then, a few bars into his piece, one of the strings on his violin snapped. The stark sound rang throughout the hall. What would the great musician do now?

What he chose to do, surprised everyone. He removed the broken string. Closed his eyes and paused for a moment. Then signalled to the conductor to begin again.

Everyone had believed that it was impossible to play a complex symphonic work on just three strings. But that night Perlman defied convention – as by instinct he rethought and reconstructed the piece as he played it with passion, power and purity.

When he’d finished, a silence fell; then the people rose and began to cheer from every corner of the auditorium.
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In response, Perlman smiled, wiped the sweat from this brow, raised his bow to quiet the audience, and then said: "You know, sometimes it is the artist's task to find out how much music you can still make with what you have left."

God of all creativity, we thank you for the gift of life. Give us the tenacity that rather than being daunted by our limitations – whatever they may be – we may use the time and talents you have given us to their greatest impact. Amen.ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý