Getting To Know You  by Donald Hughes, March 2026

I recently watched a brief video highlighting the remarkable life of Tommy Emmanuel, the renowned and accomplished guitar player. Tommy was born in New South Wales in Australia, one of six children in 1955. He received his first guitar at age four, and was taught to play by his mother. In 1961, at the age of six, he heard Chet Atkins (an American icon in country music and one of the greatest guitarists of his day) on the radio. That moment was so impressionable, that even today he still remembers the exact moment with a vivid memory of how it changed him and inspired him to become a musician. After an amazing whirlwind career in Australia, and many years of correspondence with Atkins, Tommy finally was able to make a trip to America in 1980 to meet his mentor and idol in person. In this brief video,  Tommy made a remarkable and rather profound comment about this first-time meeting with Chet Atkins. To paraphrase,  Tommy said he was so influenced by Chet, and so engrossed in his style of playing and musicality over the years, that when he finally met him, he felt he already knew him personally.  In other words, the meet was just a formality,  he really “met” Chet Atkins years ago by following him so closely in his musical journey, This is one of those fly-by statements that just stuck to me like glue. My mind immediately started to whirl about with the absolute profoundness of that. To get to know someone, really know someone at a deep, almost inspirational level, it takes not only time, but effort and a sincere level of interest. We meet people everyday, at different interactions and situations. Some are brief, some are intimate, some are due to circumstances and some by design. Some we forget almost immediately, and others we bond with for a lifetime. We somehow recognize something in them that resonates deeply in us.

I think of the hundreds of people that met Jesus after his crucifixion and resurrection, but only a few are recorded as recognizing Him.   Mary Magdalene met Him at the tomb, and the scriptures tell us she saw Jesus.  Saw in this context was used by the Greeks as a passive observer, like someone who  “saw” a play.  Only after Jesus called her by name, “Mary..” did she turn toward Him and immediately recognized Him.  She later says, “I have seen the Lord”.  The Greek’s usage of “seen” now denotes an active participant in the encounter. Her life-changing event was now seen through spiritual lenses rather than physical eyes. Cleopus and others walking the seven mile journey to Emmaus did not recognize the stranger that joined them, teaching them and clarifying the events of the previous week. However, not until they invited this stranger to their home to eat, and the Savior broke the bread did they suddenly know who sat before them. They later described the “burning in their hearts” as they listened to Him speak those many hours. This “spiritual confirmation”, in conjunction with the physical act of participating in the sacrament of breaking bread, brought them to the point of truly “seeing” the Savior. 

Sometimes, we need to follow our hearts, and not our eyes, when we see and feel the good in others, and like Tommy who not only admired Chet’s playing, but picked up a guitar and pain painstakingly learned to emulate Chet’s style and technique…and as a result mastered the heart of the instrument.  I think the Savior wants us to understand that too, and through a lifetime of effort, master His life and teachings so that when we finally meet Him, we will already have known Him.