“Piano, piano.”
“Piano, piano.”
The Italian word “piano” is the English word for “floor.” For example, my family lives on the “piano terra,” or ground floor, of our apartment building. For my American friends, this is not to be confused with the first floor. I could simply be remembering incorrectly, but in the United States, the floor you find yourself on when entering an apartment or building is typically the first floor. If you take the stairs, or elevator, up to the next floor, you will find yourself on the second floor. Now, this is very important if you ever plan to travel to Italy, and especially Catania. Tuck this away in a safe place. When you are looking for that perfect vacation rental on Airbnb and the description says “first floor” or “prima piano,” then you are on the second floor. This is important because not every building has an elevator, or ascensore in Italian. So, don’t get too excited when you find that beautiful first floor apartment (without an elevator) only to arrive and discover that pesky flight of stairs you now must climb every day.
You’re welcome.
In the Bible, whenever someone’s name is listed twice, it is very important. In fact, this only happens on a few occasions. I am not fact checking myself here, but I believe the first incident comes when Abraham is about to sacrifice Isaac on Mount Moriah. Just as his arm is raised and he is about to bring the knife down on the promised child, Isaac, the angel of the Lord says to him, “Abraham! Abraham!” In the New Testament, on the road to Damascus, Jesus says to Paul, “Saul! Saul!” These are just two examples, but we also see it with Moses, Samuel, and even Martha. The point I’m making here is that a word repeated often carries a lot of significance.
That is the case here as well. “Piano, piano” literally translated, means, “floor, floor” or “floor by floor.” You might be able to see where this is going. “Piano, piano” is best translated as “step by step” or “little by little.”
“Little by little.”
Learning Italian has been quite the challenge for me. It often feels like one step forward and two steps back. One moment I feel like I am grasping a new concept only to discover that I’ve forgotten several vocab words we learned the week prior. It can be very frustrating. In these moments I have to repeat this phrase to myself, “piano, piano.”
Isn’t this often true when growing in holiness?
Dr. Tim Tennent, president of Asbury Theological Seminary, wrote a phenomenal book called The Spirit-Filled Life. One chapter wrestles with the reality that we receive the Holy Spirit in two ways: crisis event and ongoing process. A crisis event is what we see happening at Pentecost. The Holy Spirit comes in a very clear and powerful way in a specific moment on the life of a believer, or in this case, on the lives of many believers. You may have experienced a similar moment in your life when you were “filled with the Holy Spirit.” However, Scripture is also clear that we don’t only experience the Holy Spirit in this way. As important as the crisis event is, we must recognize the importance of the ongoing process. Paul says in Ephesians 5:18, “And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit.” Another way to say this is to be filled with the Holy Spirit, and to keep being filled.
Little by little we are becoming more and more like Jesus, by the power of the Holy Spirit. This is a process we must submit to on a daily basis. It does not happen overnight.
“Piano, piano.”
Do not be discouraged. Just remember this is something you must choose to submit to daily. So, let me ask you a question.
Are you willing?
