The story is told that Jenny Lind, a famous soprano in the mid-1800 's, was once asked by an admirer how she could so fearlessly face huge audiences. She answered, "I never have but one in my audience. I sing straight back to God, who gave me my voice." Quoted in Julia Michael Johnston, Mary Baker Eddy: Her Mission and Triumph (Boston: The Christian Science Publishing Society, 1946), p. 124.
Anyone who performs in front of other people—whether speaking, singing, playing an instrument, or dancing— can benefit from this insightful remark. As the Bible puts it: "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." James 1:17.
No gift or mode of expression starts with us personally. It is from God, the creator of all and the source of infinite creativity. So it is not subject to failure of memory or nerves, nor to any lack of consistency or self-confidence. And we can prove this.
