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Sunday, February 04, 2007
The Breath of Life (1) : Pedro Eustache Writer : Dawn FungThis is part 1 of the interview with Pedro and Sara Eustache. They live in Los Angeles where Pedro works full time as a professional multi-woodwinds player. He played 70% of the flutes in the soundtrack of The Passion of Christ and ministers in various churches.   Left : Pedro, Dawn, SaraDawn : Sarah, some of the things Pedro shares in his testimony may be difficult to listen to at times. Sarah : Because he shares some intimate history like that of Esther Ginette, I pray that the Lord opens the people's hearts and minds to understand his message. I also don't want people to feel pity for us. Most of the time I am praying to the Lord to give him the right words because I don't want the people to misunderstand the things that he shares. I know Pedro loves the Lord and he connects well with people through his music. I don't wish for people to think of him as arrogant. And such misunderstanding happens in a place in a place like Hollywood. Dawn : What comes to mind when I see you both relating to each other and to the audience is a powerful union in a shared ministry. Is it tough working together? Pedro : Yes it can be - both of us are intense and strong willed people, so we do argue. But in our 26 years of marriage, we make it a point to see beyond the reality of our debates, to the reality of God in our lives who gives us the power to overcome our opinions. In that sense there is no power struggle. We enjoy our areas of ministry. Sara : I am not comfortable sharing in front of a crowd. I prefer relating one to one. Pedro : People say I am a performer but I see myself performing for the Lord in the secular environment. I worship. That is what I do. Dawn : That reminds me of Abraham Laboriel, who worships with such joy on a single note. That is moving - Pedro : And real. I remember a story where Alex Acuna rode a bicycle to Abraham's house, and he saw him jumping in the spirit, worshipping God with the same gusto that he does onstage. And Alex knew that this guy was real. He goes all out for the Lord even if no one was watching - in his own home. I love that. That is the example I want to follow. I want to be real. That is my prayer many a times when I perform. It has happened where people have misinterpreted my walk with God. Dawn : But stereotypes and misunderstandings are bound to happen in a world where human beings are imperfect. Pedro : I demand a very high standard of performance, and I have an obsessive repulsion against mediocrity, beginning with my own. So I can be brutal and too overwhelming with people. One time I was very angry over an incident at work. I was scheduled to set up my instruments at a place for the soundtrack of a movie. When I drove to the place, they had forgotten to place my name on the list. I had 400 instruments at the back of my van and furious that this mix up delayed my work. So I blew my top at the security and said some unkind things. And when I am angry, it becomes very evident. I think that that part of me shows that I am still a work in progress for the Lord. I openly confess this. Dawn : Right... so it's a pride issue? Pedro : For me it was not about pride. It feels like this to me in the movie industry : You just don't fail. If you fail, you just don't work again. So I had felt very pressurised. I did not want anyone to think that I could have been irresponsible at work - for example, the rest of the orchestra waits while I take my own time to set up my instruments. And on my part, I do have many instruments, racks and racks of them. Dawn : I do now. It's an administrative oversight that you were unhappy about. Pedro : But the way I behaved about it was not right, so I did not have a problem going to them to apologise. Dawn : So Sara, how do you deal with Pedro's perfectionism? Pedro : Hard, hard! Tell her! Sara (laughs) : It's very hard. Pedro : A lot of prayer and patience. The thing is that we cannot allow our perfectionist attitudes to overshadow our testimony. The beautiful thing is that God gives you a discerning heart so that you can rectify situations. I had to repent from a bondage with perfectionism - at that time, nothing could ever be good enough. Now I can look at my CD and point to you my mistakes in places where the rhythm is upside downą„¤ Yet I am tremendous peace with that. I have learnt that the high calibre skills and super-duper anointing that God has given me is a million times better than the mistakes that I can pinpoint in my music. So I am cool. I have perspective. And ironically, whatever perfection you try to achieve will never be perfect enough for God. We often use New York as a metaphor for the greatest capital in the world. You see everything in New York. I jokingly always say that God is the ultimate New Yorker. You go to a New Yorker and say, "I've got the greatest thing in the world," and he'll say, "Okay." In the same way, you cannot impress God. He created everything that we see, and utilise and admire today. If He is the one who created the entire universe, then it is meaningful to say that there is nothing that we can do, or strive to achieve that will impress Him. That takes pressure off us to be a dogmatic perfectionist, but gives us an impetus to be excellent as we are created in His image. We review Pedro Eustache's latest album, Global Mvission in Backstage. For more information on Pedro Eustache, visit http://www.pedroflute.com/
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