I don't want to overstate things, but what has happened at the little "piano bar" gig at JR's Pub has been truly remarkable, at least from where I sit. Looking out from the piano bench, I see friends, old and new; some socializing, some intently listening, some looking at phones or computer screens or books, but all connected to the music, or the larger picture, in some way. It's like the entire room, full of autonomous people, each doing their own thing, becomes one. On the side of socializing, one friend wrote this to me:
"It was like a little cocktail party -- everyone had a good time and your piano work really set the stage for that, as always."
 Another friend, from another angle, wrote this:
"Your music is a bridge to a person and his own solitude. And I thank you for it."
And another friend was so kind as to say this:
"Joe is a gifted musician who blesses us all when we take the time to stop and hear him".
But perhaps what spoke to me the loudest is when she also said:
"Thank you Joe, for always bringing peace in the midst of chaos."
This resonates to me not as a description of my external environment, but of that within. Am feeling bold enough to assert that (at least from the piano) "peace within the midst of (my own) chaos" is what I have been led to find, or experience, even if just being brought to the outer rim. It has been a process; not unlike an unveiling. And as the layers are drawn back, or the light illumines a broader area, I find the paradox of peace and chaos, perhaps in an untangling, so that I can be removed from one (even as I may continue to observe it) as I move more into alignment with the other. Perhaps I can truly begin to be a presence of peace in the midst of chaos (around me), as I truly begin to cultivate that within myself. Or perhaps I have always been that (at least potentially), even if I've seldom realized it. It's nice (a true blessing) to feel as if I may actually be getting it.

The other day, a friend referred to me as a "prayer warrior". I have not been called that before, nor would I have thought of myself in those terms. I've heard it said of others and not thought twice, in the sense that the description seemed apt. Now that I actually think about it, it paints, to me, a bit of an aggressive, or assertive picture of one who engages God. It's a positive image to me; of someone looking past their own concerns to hold up the concerns of others. Knowing my ability to be self absorbed, I wouldn't give myself that much credit.
Upon reflection though, it is true that I have sought to cultivate prayer as a lifestyle; from playing piano to walking/picture taking, to learning to (better) listen, to just getting out of the way to find the awareness of "pray(er) without ceasing". The warrior image seems to suggest conflict or struggle against something, and maybe that's why I hadn't gotten there on my own. Words that ring of prayer to me are, among others; awareness, connection, surrender. A few days ago I posted this picture on Facebook with the caption, "If we say that the universe has aligned, we may mean that we have aligned with it." This is where prayer takes us, I believe; through the struggle, to a place of peace.