Grampa Mario and the Gift of the Joyphonet<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
J. Michael Sharman
 
 
            In a soft, warm land in a time faraway lived a kind man named Mario.  He had a daughter whom he loved very much.  When he learned that she and her husband were going to have a baby he wanted to give the baby a very special gift.
            For weeks he talked about it in his morning prayer time with God.  "Dear Heavenly Father," he'd say, "you know my heart and how I want to show my love for that new child, and you also know what is best for that new child.  Put in my mind what the perfect gift, the best gift for that child will be."
            And as Mario prayed, the idea grew in his mind of such a wondrous gift that it thrilled him as he began to plan and prepare to make it.  It was so exciting he had to share the idea with his friend, Hans, who would often drop by his workshop to chat with him.
            "What is this wonderful gift you're making for your grandchild?" Hans asked.
            "It is a musical instrument such as the world has never seen!" Mario told him.
            "A musical instrument for a baby?  How can a baby play a musical instrument?" Hans asked with doubt in his voice.
            "This instrument will be so simple that a little baby can play on it and yet as the baby grows, the instrument will grow with it, so that as the baby grows into a child and the child into a man or woman, the instrument grows in depth and complexity with them.  It is never so difficult that my grandchild would not enjoy it, but no matter how expert my grandchild becomes on this instrument, they can never outplay it."
            Hans glanced at his friend, "What do you mean 'outplay it'?  Does the instrument play itself, too?"
            "No-oo," said Mario, struggling to put it into words.  "My grandbaby will play it, putting into the instrument their own skill and talent, but the instrument will add to what my grandchild plays, building upon what my grandchild does and creating between the two of them something beautiful that neither could have created on their own."
            "Marvelous! Marvelous!" said Hans.  "What does this new instrument sound like?"
            "Oh, Hans, it does not simply create sounds, it creates joy."
            "It creates joy?" Hans asked, bewildered.
            "Yes, Yes! That's the wonderful thing about it -- whenever my grandbaby plays it, whatever they put into this little musical instrument, their hurt or sorrow, their little simple notes of anger or their own feelings of happiness, the instrument will create sounds of joy, feelings of joy such that my grandbaby and those around my grandbaby can't help but feel their heart filled with happiness and the muscles of their face tugging their mouth into a smile and a bright beam of gladness being put into their eyes."
            "What is like, this magical instrument of yours?" asked Hans.
            "Oh, it's not magic," said Mario, "I have just put together what God has already given me: some silver and gold for the casing, some oyster shell and mother of pearl for the keys, and then allowing the brightness, warmth and electricity and power of the stars and the sun to flow through it."
            "What are you going to call it?" Hans wondered.
            "I don't have a name yet.  Maybe you could help me.  It is kind of like a saxaphone, and a little like a clarinet, but of course it creates joy."
            "Hmm,"  pondered Hans,  "Saxaphone, clarinet, joy. . .  How about calling it a 'joyphonet'?"
            "Joyphonet!  I like that. Yes!  That's perfect,"  Mario beamed.
            "Oh, Mario, really, I - I can't believe it!  Can you really make such a thing?"  Hans asked wide-eyed.
            "With God's help, I can.  You pray with me and we will see if I can get it built before my grandbaby is born."
            "I will pray," Hans said. "I will count it a privilege to pray with you for such a wonderful thing."
            And so through the next months Mario worked and worked on the gift for his grandbaby, his work built up by his own prayers and those of Hans.   At last the day arrived when it lay on his workbench, complete, perfect and beautiful.
            "Can you play it now?" asked Hans, who had been stopping by more and more often as the joyphonet became more and more complete.
            "Not now," said Mario, "We can only have its full effect at that time of day when the stars are yet in the sky and the sun is just beginning to appear.  You come back by tomorrow and we will both see how it does."
            So the next day, while it was still pitch black outside, Mario was waiting and ready when he heard Hans' knock on his workshop door.  Without a word, they both walked to the edge of their village and waited for the right time to play the new instrument.
            Finally, Hans and Mario saw a thin, thin line of red on the edge of the sky where the sun was just peeking through the horizon.  Under the still star-filled sky, Mario lifted the instrument to his lips and softly blew through it.
            Lyrical notes, melodious sounds, came out of the instrument and Hans giggled at the thrill that washed over him.  Mario pressed one or two keys and sounds like daybreak and moonbeams and warm sunshine on a spring afternoon brought sighs of contentment to both of them.
            Mario handed the instrument to Hans and Hans cradled it for awhile and then lifted it up to his lips and blew a long note.  A sound and tone quite different from Mario's blew through the early dawn, filling them both with hope and promise and a sense that all was well.  Hans' hands played over the keys and the two old men giggled and giggled and giggled some more with the swift current of exuberance that flowed through them.
            Hans brought the instrument down from his lips, "Such a gift," he murmured, "Such a gift."
            They both knelt and prayed, giving their thanks that God had given to Mario the idea and skill to make such a wonderful gift.
            As they walked back to Mario's workshop, Hans' asked, "How are you going to wrap it?  What kind of box can you put such a wonderful gift in?"
            Mario answered, "The wrapping should not draw attention away from the magnificence of  the gift.  I will carefully pack it with cotton in a sturdy wooden box and securely strap it with leather."
            And so Mario prepared the box and carefully wrote out the few simple instructions for how and when to play it and laid them on top of the instrument.  With that, he put it in the care of a caravan master he trusted and sent it on its way to his grandbaby.
             Then he waited, and waited, and waited seasons more till  the caravan master finally returned.  "Well, what news do you have?" Mario asked the caravan master.
            "News?" The caravan master dumbly repeated.
            "Yes," Mario said, "What news did my daughter send with you?  What reply did she make to my gift I sent with you?"
            "Oh, she said to tell you that you have a nice, new granddaughter and she will save your gift and open it for her when she is old enough to enjoy it."
            "But she's old enough now!  Didn't you tell her she's old enough now!  And even if she couldn't play it yet, her family can be having joy now!  There's no reason to wait!"  exclaimed Mario all in one breath.
            "Mario, old friend, I just deliver the goods.  I don't tell people what to do with them.  I helped your daughter put the box safely up on a shelf where she has some other crates stored."
            "Would you take a note to her when you return?" Mario asked the caravan master.
            "Of course, I will, old friend.  Of course, I will."
            So Mario wrote this note: "Dear Daughter, Please take the box I gave you down from the shelf and open it.  The box may look simple and plain but the gift inside really is wonderful.  Read and follow the simple instructions I have given you about the gift for my granddaughter.  Send back word with the caravan master.  Love, Grampa Mario."
            More long seasons passed before the caravan master returned.  This time the caravan master told Mario that his daughter apologized, but she said what with one thing and another, they just hadn't had the time to get around to opening the crate,  and after doing all their errands and chores everyday, there never seemed to be  much daylight left for reading the instructions, anyway.
            "Caravan master", sighed Mario.  "Will you take my daughter another note?"
            And months later at the other end of the caravan route, Mario's daughter read,  "Dear Daughter, You and your husband and my granddaughter will very much like the gift I sent.  If you will just open it up and use it, it will not be a burden on your day, it will lighten the burdens of your day. Love, Grampa Mario."
            Hans watched for the return of the caravan master and on the evening when he finally returned, Hans went to Mario's house to hear what happened.
            "Well, Hans", Mario said as he shook his head sadly, "The caravan master explained to me that my daughter did open the box, and they did like the looks of the joyphonet but they did not read the instructions before they used it and they could not manage to get up at the crack of dawn to play it. And of course when they did play it, it only made a few squeaks and squawks.  But my granddaughter did take it to school to show to her friends."
            "Well, that must be good," said Hans.
            "No," said Mario, "Her friends made fun of her and asked why she didn't have a trumpet or a flute or a clarinet like they did.  She felt ashamed that she had this strange instrument so different from theirs."
            Hans was indignant.  "But the joyphonet is so much better than theirs.  A trumpet or a flute plays mere music, but the joyphonet plays joy!"
            "But she doesn't know that, my friend Hans, she hasn't read the instructions and played it at the proper time.  She hasn't experienced what you and I have."
            "What can we do, Mario, to help her to understand about the joyphonet?"
            "When I was building it, Hans, you helped me by praying with me.  Pray with me again."
            And so again in Mario's morning prayer time with God he would pray for wisdom and guidance, and Hans during his prayer time would pray the same for his good friend.
            After a while, Mario was able to push away the noisiness of his own pride, hurt, resentment and anger, and with that out of the way he could talk to God clearly.  "Dear Heavenly Father," Mario asked, "How could my daughter and granddaughter reject such a gift?  How can I make them understand the joy it can give them?"
            In the still of the quiet morning air, the answer came, "Mario, my child, I sent a gift also.  I sent my son, Jesus, to earth in a very plain package so that what He looked like would not take away from the beauty of the gift that he brought from Me to earth.  He carried my Word so that people everywhere would know the simple way to joy.  And what a gift He offered from me!  The gift of forgiveness for every wrong thing anyone had ever done, and even more fantastic, the gift of life forever, life with Me in Heaven.  And yet, people are still too busy to take time to talk with Me, to read My Bible, My instruction book.  They are also afraid, like your granddaughter, of being different from their friends.  Yes, Mario, you and I share the same sorrow."
            "But, but God," stuttered Mario, "You are the King of the Universe, you are King over time and desire and King over, well, over everything.  Why don't you make people take your gift?"
            "Mario, you know the reason.  You have learned it through your gift of the joyphonet.  You can't force people to accept and enjoy a gift.  You give it to them, but it is up to them whether to use and enjoy it."
            "But the joyphonet, God, it is too good a gift to waste.   Should I take it back and give it to someone else who will appreciate it?"
            "It was a gift, Mario, you can't take it back.  You leave the joyphonet with them and pray that they will someday take it down off the shelf, follow the little instruction book,  and allow it to give them joy everyday.  I also will leave with them my gift of my son, Jesus.  And I can tell you, Mario, I love them more than you ever could and I also want them to unwrap and enjoy the gift I have for them."
            The next time the caravan master came to Mario's village, Hans stopped by Mario's workshop and found him packing.  "Where are you going?" asked Hans.
            "I am going to my daughter's house," said Mario.  "God gave us His gift of love through His son  Jesus. But it occurred to me,  Jesus not only brought the gift, but He also showed us how the gift worked.  So, I'm going to my daughter's to show her how the gift works."
            "Can I do anything to help you?" asked his friend Hans.
            "You can pray for me, if you will."
            "I will pray," said Hans.  "I will count it a privilege to pray with you for such a wonderful thing."