In That Little Room By Justin Knight

In That Little Room

By Justin Knight

I first fell in love with the piano because of my grandmother Lucille.  She played the piano for her church until she was afflicted with Leukemia.  This disease crippled my grandmother’s hands to the point where she could barely play with one hand.  She would use her one hand to play and would often set me up on the piano bench and teach me how to play along with her.  I could only play one song with two fingers, but grandma made me feel like the music was all me which made me feal nine feet tall.

As I grew up, I continued to study music and tried out for a summer music camp called Summer Arts in Oklahoma. I was accepted to join the choir with a bunch of other kids for a summer of music learning.  During our getting to know phase of our school I met a little boy who was blind and was quite gifted with music.  During our breaks from choir sessions, he would play the piano, and all the kids would gather around to hear him play from the heart.  We became friends and his story would inspire me.  I would spend many years ahead many hours a day in a little room behind an old piano in an old sanctuary of an old church developing in my gift of composing and playing music.  This old piano seemed a hundred years old.  It was out of tune and half of the keys would stick.  I would have to play very softly on the keys to keep the keys from sticking. Little did I know in this season of life that this experience would develop my unique soft touch and playing style. I also would turn out the lights and imagine what it was like to have a disability of blindness. I learned how to play the piano in the dark and would continue this practice for many years.  It was also during this season of life that I experienced anxiety and times of despair and hopelessness struggling with the teenage years of life and the life experiences I was navigating through.  It was during this season of adolescence that I would go to this little room, sit down at the piano and write melodies beginning in sad minor keys and ending in joyful major keys.  I would intertwine them into beautiful heart moving compositions. When words could not express the pain and hurt, I felt, the warm keys of the lower register would bring real comfort to my aching heart.  The tight chord patterns and arpeggios would bring a sense of stability, strength, and purpose.  The notes in the high register would bring simplicity, which I especially longed to hear, since some of the most comforting lullabies have these same characteristics.  It was also in this little room behind this old piano and through its unique sound, and out of my longings and searching’s that I discovered the person and the presence of the Lord God and the presence of His son my Savior the Lord Jesus Christ.  His presence became the longing pursuit way beyond the music and notes. It was in that little room where music was made and worship was developed and Jesus Christ was found.

I also realized later that the old, out of tune piano that I played with the keys that stuck reminded me and helped me to remember the valleys on the farm where I grew up, and the valleys of life I walked through.  Those times taught me valuable lessons. 

Perhaps the lesson from this writing is that it is in the minor things, even the struggles in life that God allows us to go through that prepare us and gifts us to make a major difference in life.  It is the minor sounds of life that make us cherish and savor the major sounds of life.  So, if you ever feel stuck, or feel your life is out of tune, just remember the lesson from that little room.  The Lord Jesus will make all things new and in perfect tune. What a beautiful sound!

Written by Justin Knight

Music Composer, Pianist, Recording Artist, Pastor

justinknightmusic.com