The Hammered Dulcimer - 11/8/2017

An Arkie's Faith column from the November 8, 2017, issue of The Mena Star.

On a recent trip to Branson, Missouri I visited the Butterfly Palace. As I walked into the butterfly aviary, I saw hundreds of butterflies of all sizes and colors flying everywhere. As I was taking it all in and watching the butterflies, I heard beautiful hammered dulcimer music. I assumed that music was being piped in through a speaker system. As I walked around a corner, I saw that the music was coming from a woman playing a hammered dulcimer.

I love hammered dulcimer music, so when she had finished the song, I approached her to talk to her and tell her how much I appreciated the music. She plays on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays at the Butterfly Palace and has Cd’s for sale in the gift shop area. Her name is Ilace Mears, and she is an award-winning hammered dulcimer player. In 2016 she was named the National Hammered Dulcimer Champion at the 46th Annual Walnut Valley Festival. As I visited with her, I told her my experience as a wishful hammered dulcimer player.

Several years ago our family made a trip to Branson Missouri to meet my sister and her family. We had a delightful weekend, enjoying everything except the Branson traffic. We especially enjoyed going to Silver Dollar City.

While we were at Silver Dollar City, we listened to traditional mountain music. I like to listen to mountain instruments, especially the hammered dulcimer. There were vendors selling instruments, and I stopped at one of the booths to look at the hammered dulcimers. The salesman showed me the different dulcimers that he had and assured me that with the materials he had, I would be able to learn to play. In the excitement of the moment, I purchased the hammered dulcimer.

When I returned home, I got the new hammered dulcimer out and tried to play it. Somehow I just couldn't get the hang of it. I watched the video that the salesman had included. I still couldn't make music. All I could make was horrendous noise. I read the book that came with the instrument, but it didn't seem to help. I came to realize that I just wasn't musically talented. I would probably never be a hammered dulcimer player. I put the hammered dulcimer with its zippered case and its wooden stand in the back of the closet. The only time I thought about them was when they got in my way as I was trying to get something out of the closet.

Several years later I was in a financial pinch. Among other things, our heat pump was struck by lightning, and I had to replace the compressor. As I was thinking about how I was going to pay for the new heat pump, that hammered dulcimer came to mind. I wondered if I could sell it. I thought about selling it on eBay, but I never got around to it.

One day on an impulse I called the swap shop at noon on KENA radio and listed the hammered dulcimer. I had heard a lot of unusual things for sale on the swap shop, but never a hammered dulcimer. The day went by, and I did not receive any calls about the dulcimer.

That night there was another small crisis at home. The washing machine wasn't working properly. I don't know about your house, but at my house, that was a crisis. Where were we going to get the money to pay for the repairs? We hadn't recovered from replacing the heat pump. Call the appliance repairman I told my wife, we have to get the washing machine fixed. That night we prayed that God would help us out of this financial problem.

The next day around noon I received a call from Waldron. The caller asked, "do you have a hammered dulcimer for sale? I have been looking for one for my daughter, and a friend told me they had heard one for sale on the radio." I assured her that I did, and made arrangements to meet her so that I could show her the dulcimer. When she saw the instrument, she gave me my asking price immediately. It was almost exactly the amount that the repairman needed for fixing the washing machine.

As the buyer was leaving, I told her, "I don't know if you are a Christian or not, but I have to tell you something." I was so excited by how God was taking care of my financial problem that I had to tell her the whole story of the dulcimer and the washing machine. After I had told her the story, she replied, "I am a Christian, and I have to tell you a story. My daughter has wanted a hammered dulcimer for some time. I have been to several music stores, but the cost of a hammered dulcimer is more than we can afford. My daughter has been praying that God would help her find a dulcimer she could afford. I told her that used ones were very hard to find, but she continued to pray about it. Finding this dulcimer at a reasonable price is an answer to our prayers."

I stood there stunned as I realized that the great God that we serve had answered the prayers of two families that day. In Philippians 4:6 (NCV) the Bible says "Do not worry about anything, but pray and ask God for everything you need, always giving thanks.”

Gentle Reader, when we pray, God has promised to hear our prayers and give us good gifts. In Matthew 7:7-11 (NIV) Jesus said, “ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” You can have confidence that God will hear your prayers. “This is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.” 1 John 5:14 (NKJV)