A human moment with Ruth McGinley
I don’t remember the last time I was in the Grand Opera House, it had certainly been more than thirty years, it was before I moved to the U.S.A.. There I was on the first Friday evening of February walking in to hear Ruth McGinley play some amazing pieces on the piano and chat with the Rev. Steve Stockman about her life experiences.
I thought I’d reserved a seat from which I could capture some good photos without disturbing those around me. However, the seat I had reserved had a horrible angle to the piano and Ruth. I wasn’t sure how I was going to capture the event, the last thing I wanted to do was get in the way and become a distraction. Thankfully there were a few seats front and centre that weren’t filled and I found my space for what would prove to be a transformative evening.
As Ruth took the stage there was a palpable sense of expectation and the spirit of everyone present was lifted as her fingers caressed the keys of the piano. The music flowed from Ruth to the piano and on to us, filling the air we were breathing with a beautiful piece by Sibelius. After two years of COVID restrictions we were free to take a long, slow, deep breath inhaling and tasting the music.
Music transcends the spoken word and that transcendence flows into and through Ruth. I wanted to try and capture a sense of that in a photograph. I wasn’t sure if I could do it, but I slowed the shutter to a half second and hoped to capture some of the movement and emotion of the moment. I think I succeeded.
As Steve and Ruth interacted between the musical pieces there were moments of levity around shopping, disco, and small hands. There were also, more importantly, moments of vulnerability as Ruth shared parts of her life story, her humanity, her strength, and her frailty with us. While Ruth’s story, like everyone else’s, is unique to them, she communicated in such a relatable manner that it allowed me to reflect on my own life and my love for humanity in all its beauty, brokenness, and need for grace.
As Ruth shared her story of addiction and recovery that started in 2010 she spoke of the need to know yourself and how there was a time when she was lost. Coming to the point where, “I put my hands up and said I’m not able to heal on my own.” A recognition of frailty and yet a statement of great strength.
The flow of brokenness, healing, restoration, journey, hope, and grace turned the night into a holy moment. I don’t know where Ruth stands when it comes to the grace of God in Jesus, but I mentioned to her after the show that her words and story reflected God’s redemptive purpose in the world - humanity created good and beautiful in the image of God, becoming broken and in need of restoration, and finding that restoration through God’s grace (if only we could do a better job telling that story).
The big takeaway moment came for me as Ruth was talking about playing the piano. In explaining the percussive nature of the instrument she explained that when you play a note it doesn’t matter how much you want it to carry on to the next note it won’t do that, it disappears. As a result the pianist has to employ imagination, and feeling to make it work and then she spoke the words that will live with me for a while, “If you stop, the sound stops, everything stops.”
It was a beautiful human moment.
