Never Give Up

To be persistent is to never give up no matter what difficulty or opposition you may face.

Across our campus we teach persistence in our wellbeing programs from Kindy through to Year 10. Our Primary School program is called ‘Bounce Back’ and to teach this value one of the books we use is called ‘The Red Piano’ by Andre LeBlanc. It is a story about the life of Zhu Xiao-Mei. 

Zhu was born in Shanghai in 1949. Zhu loved to play the piano. By the age of 8 she was so talented as a classical piano player, that she went on to perform on radio and television in Beijing. However, in 1966, China went through a cultural revolution. Under the leadership of their supreme leader, Mao Zedong, there was an attempt to rid the country of capitalism and traditional Chinese thought. Their aim was to preserve Chinese communism. Many people were taken from their homes and sent to re-education camps, often by force. For 10 years chaos reigned and millions suffered. Many things were banned including classical music. Zhu was taken from the conservatory of music where she had been studying and put into a Maoist labour camp to try to re-educate her and remove any love of classical music from her life. As painful as this was, Zhu did not give up on her love of music! One day she found an old beaten-up piano with broken strings in a secret room. Whenever she could, she would secretly go and practise.

“In the hut, the cramped rooms reek of sweat, the foul smell of extinguished coal fires and packed earth. Crammed together, the comrades are already sleeping on the bare ground. Taking small careful steps, the young girl leaves the communal house.”

Zhu never gave up! Finally in 1975, after Mao’s regime ended, she returned and continued to study. After many musical achievements she now currently teaches at Conservatoire Supérieur de Paris, living by the river side of the Seine in Paris, France. She maintains a low-key life style and is one of the most talented and respected Chinese pianists of the century. What an incredible example of persistence!

I can think of someone else who persisted and sacrificed in the face of dire opposition. Jesus defied all opposition to give us life! In 2 Peter 2:24 it says, “He (Jesus) personally carried our sins in his body on the cross…By his wounds you are healed.”

May we teach our children the value of persistence and to never give up on our hope and dreams even when things get hard.  

Pr James Greensill

Primary School Chaplain

(Resources: NLT Bible and “The Red Piano” by Andre LeBlanc)