"In the 1800s, Paganini was an emerging violinist and composer. And his dream was to play to a packed opera house in which the audience to would jump to its feet with an ovation. And then that evening came. It was time for his solo. But as the musician began to draw his bow, he felt this terror and sickness in his stomach because he realized that he had grabbed the wrong violin, a far inferior one. And then deep inside himself he heard, "Play with what you've got." And so he drew back his bow and he began to play. And he asked that even in this instrument, something might happen that would make a difference for the gift of music.

As Paganini maximized what he had, the audience rose to ovation after ovation after ovation. He said: "Before tonight, I always thought the music came from my violin. Tonight I realized the music comes from me." Often we have thought our miracle comes from the world, when the truth is, the only miracle that's real must come through us, from that place in us where the spirit of God truly resides. The music is within you.

" --Mary Manin Morrissey