Lessons Through the Keyboard

This isn't an article on how to learn to play the keyboard. Rather, its about the lessons God has taught me through my keyboard. Quite a long one, but worth the read.

Ever since 2008, I eagerly waited to buy a good keyboard for myself. A childhood friend of mine had a PSR-2000 (Rs. 65,000). My heart was set on getting that model. I had pictures of it, and kept looking at them regularly. I planned to buy myself one after I joined work. I was pursuing my Bachelor's in Engineering at that time. So after a two year long wait, I hoped to join work and buy it. But God guided me towards my Post Graduation in Management, and I realized that I had to wait for another two years to buy it. 

Thats when my sister surprised me by offering to buy one for me. From then on, I started searching for a good keyboard to buy. PSR-2000 was an old model now, no longer in production. I could get a second hand one or buy some other recent model. I kept my options open. 

First starting with the second hand keyboards, I went through many online shopping sites, looked at various keyboards, contacted people, tried to fix the prices and so on. This went on for about a month and a half. Then I happened to visit my guitar master one day, and he advised me to not get a second hand one. Its more prone to get repaired, he said. 

So I started a fresh search looking at the latest keyboards and their features. There were many to choose from and decision making became very tough. During this time I had this renewed desire to learn to play the keyboard better, and so I wanted one that would help me learn more and improve my playing greatly. I downloaded the pictures and features list of about 6 to 7 keyboards and went through them everyday. I would spend hours reading the features again and again even though I knew them by heart. I would look at all those keyboards longingly. Day after day, I went through all those models, sometime many times a day, and I still wasn't able to decide. 

At first I chose a simple model. It had touch sensitivity ( a feature) that was one of my top priorities. I assumed it would suffice my purpose and almost decided on it. Then I realized that I would need a better model if I had to use it for my church choir. We never had a proper keyboard in my church at that time and Christmas was fast approaching, and I needed one before that. 

So the search started again, this time with new models in my choice list. My budget also had to be looked at, and I finally narrowed down my choice to two models - the PSR-s550b (Rs. 36,000) and the PSR-s710 (Rs. 48,000).

I was accustomed to the s710 model as we had a similar one (s700) in my college, I had played on that before and I knew it was an awesome keyboard. And somehow whenever I looked at this model PSR s550b, I had this feeling I cannot explain. I didn't want that keyboard. I always wanted a silver color keyboard ( probably because PSR-2000 was of that color), and this one was black, jet black! I knew I was being silly, a keyboard should be valued based on its features and not its color. I knew it, but somehow I just didn't want the s550b model.

I knew the s550b had more features than I actually wanted, and it was a good one. But I didn't want that. A month passed, and I still couldn't make up my mind. My parents felt that the s710 model was quite expensive but since it was a one-time investment they didn't object when that was on my choice list. 

One day, a friend of mine felt I would end up buying the s550b. And I got this all too familiar feeling again (the one I cannot explain). I felt peaceful. Later when I saw the s710 again, I was confused again. And I  delayed my decision one more time. Days went by, and I felt drained of my energy whenever I tried to make a decision. There was the s550b which had the features I wanted and the s710 which I wanted to buy. I could not go ahead with either one. I couldn't believe my state. I had waited for more than two years to buy a keyboard, and now when I had the money to buy it, I just couldn't make up my mind.

I wondered which one God wanted me to buy. I didn't know. I told my friend Sagai that. She said I should fast and pray to know God's will. This may sound ridiculous, that I sought God's will to buy a keyboard. But I have always sought His will for even minor, insignificant things in my life and I felt that my keyboard which I loved already should also be in accordance with His will. I had this undeniable faith that His plans are "the best". 

So that day I fasted and prayed asking God to reveal which one I should buy. I prayed for a long time but I still got no answer. Thats when I remembered some preacher saying long back that God has given us good brains to think and we ought to use them when we seek His will. I asked God to guide me to the answer and  I took a sheet of paper and a pen. I wrote down what my needs were, what were the features I wanted. I also wrote down the features of both keyboards and matched my needs with their features. Both had the features I wanted and much more. So I started writing the positives and drawbacks of each. Among them, weight was an important factor. The s710 weighed 10.5 kgs whereas the s550b weighed only 7.5 kgs. I've carried the s700 before in college and I remember how breathless I was after having walked carrying it for hardly two minutes. 

I realized that I would have to carry my keyboard quite often to and from church. Would I be able to carry the s710 to church almost every week? (The church is about a kilometre away from my home). I wasn't sure. I felt I would dislocate my shoulder if I carried it even once to church. I would have to use an antorickshaw to carry it, and I wouldn't be able to afford that every time. 

I looked at the features again. The s550b had more features than I wanted. It was more than enough for my needs. The s710 had more features than the s550b, features I never know to exploit, features I would never use. I was a beginner after all. If I bought the s710, I would actually be buying a heavier keyboard that would leave me breathless when I carry it, a keyboard I would be paying more for for features I would never use, a waste of money and energy. 

I realized that the s550b was the one I had to buy. I once again had this familiar feeling and now, with it a lot of peace. That kind of peace cannot be explained. It leaves no doubts about the decisions you've made, it assures you that everything's gonna be alright, it makes you feel that the best will happen now. 

I had made my decision. I was going to buy the s550b.

We paid for it, and I carried it home on my lap, tightly holding the keyboard I had waited for for years. I was happy. I was peaceful. I wanted to give him a name. This verse from Joshua 24:15 where he says, “But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord” was one of my favourites. I named my keyboard after him. 

The story doesn't end there. The liar doesn't give up, does he?

As the story goes, I played on the s550b at home and the s700 ( similar to s710) in college. The music from  any keyboard will sound very good when its heard on amplified speakers. I've heard the s700 on speakers, but not mine. In my church, the speakers face the other side and I never get to hear my keyboard on the speakers. 

So I had this feeling that my keyboard was not as good as the s710. Also, by this time I got better at carrying the s700 in college ( we use it for the prayer meetings every week). Now, I could carry it without losing my breath for that short distance to the prayer room. I wondered if I had made the wrong decision. With practice I could have carried it. But this decision was from God. How could it be wrong? I remembered the decision making process and I would tell myself that this was the right decision. But confusions came now and then and this thought about the s710 kept eating at me for about 4 months. Nevertheless, I still liked my keyboard. I learnt lots as I played on it everyday and my music improved greatly. 

So it was after 4 months that I actually took my keyboard for using it at a night vigil for the first time. I was close to the speakers this time. As the music kept coming, I couldn't believe what I was hearing! Was this my keyboard? It sounded so beautiful! It was awesome!

I realized that God had given me the best, only I hadn't known it before. 

After the night vigil I had to carry it home. I had to walk for a little more than a kilometre carrying it. I felt it was no great deal as I had carried mine to church often. But I failed to notice that I was exhausted after the night vigil, and had no strength to carry it. I became breathless soon. I developed some pain in my chest as I was trying to catch my breath. I was shocked, it was my keyboard and I was breathless! I struggled to carry it home. And I kept wondering what would have happened if I was carrying the s710 now!

It took me four months to realize that God had given me the best keyboard. God has used my keyboard and me on many occasions. And I'm able to go to those places (the night vigil too) because its my keyboard that I'm carrying on my shoulders. I carry it as I walk, as I travel on the bike, I carry it myself whenever I have to play.

The decision to buy the s550b is one of the best decisions I ever made in my life!

I know that the s710 is still better than my keyboard, but the s550b is the best for me! Whats best by worldly standards isn't always the best for us. By giving me the s550b, God gave me the not what I wanted but what I needed. He gave me the best, He gave me only that which I'm capable of carrying. 


This is an important lesson in life. Many times we go after things we don't really need, they weigh heavily on our shoulders, drain us of our energy and rob us of our happiness. And the alternative from God could be plain, simple, not attractive perhaps and we doubt if it'll be the best one. But what comes from God is what we're capable of carrying. For God says in Matthew 11:30, "For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." Believe me, they're the best we can have, ever!

P.S.: Here's a picture of Joshu :)