Vita 4: Music

'Who owns a cattle on a thousand hill,
pleads for us and always will,
who was it that died, yet lives still?
Nobody but my Lord'
-Who Can Do?

'What role does music play in God's economy?' This was posed by a seminary prof. in class and was one of my favorite questions throughout my education. He made reference that the first place music appears in Scripture is Genesis 5 (not sure what he was talking about), but I find music much sooner than that...say Genesis 1! That creation account, to me, looks more like a poem or a song than a journalistic/scientific recording. I have said this recently, but I like the way Dr. Stone put it: a 'liturgical week'! Our weekly lives are meant to have a sort of rhythm (of work and rest)...and rhythm is a key part of music. The Eastern tradition emphasizes 'perichoresis' as the life of the Triune God that the rest of Christianity does not. They use the term sometimes to suggest that 'perichoresis' is 'rather like a dance which our Lord leads, or a chorus which he conducts.'

The lines that started this post (the opening verse of the hymn referenced) were my solo in my family's vocal quintet. My two brothers, parents, and I would travel to different churches in the area I grew up and would perform on Sunday nights or mid-week revival services. Maybe you have a picture of the Dooright Family (by Ray Stevens)...if so, not quite, but you're on the right track ;). I was quite young when we did this and this was part of the beginning of developing a musical talent that would come to fruition in late elementary and middle school.

Like my oldest brother, Matt, when trying out for band in the beginning of 6th grade (when I went through school, 6th grade was elementary school in Ballard County, Kentucky), the director thought I'd be best at trombone. I was somewhat disappointed (since I wanted to do percussion), but this was great news to my mother because this meant she didn't have to buy a new instrument. Matt had quit playing just a couple of years prior, but had kept his. Over the next couple of years, my talent for playing this instrument flourished and, not to toot my own horn (pardon the horrible pun), I found myself 2nd chair of the all-district band (sadly, there was no all state band for middle school). By then, I had also learned how to play a couple of other instruments. That was 8th grade. Over the course of that year I began looking at what my high school program was going to look like. With the allowed elective credits getting fewer than they had been, I discovered that I would not be able to take 4 full years of band and 4 full years of agriculture, which would be integral for success in the FFA. I had placed activity in that club as a top priority for high school extracurriculars.

I think this marked one of the crucial turning points in my life...and here is how it played out. I took note of Matt's success in the FFA, which he did not join until the second semester of his freshman year. So while my freshman year of agriculture/FFA life could be depleted, I could catch up and do well in the club. Therefore, when signing up for classes, I opted for band but listed agriculture as an alternative. The band director knew this and had a place ready for me in band camp, which was set to begin a couple of weeks before school started.

A month prior to school starting, I received my schedule and was schocked at what I saw...no band but there was agriculture. I must admit that at that point in life I was not the type of guy who would point out a mistake someone else made, even if it was a computer. So I never called the school to have it changed...I merely just let it happen...didn't show up to band camp. That was painfully obvious when the band director called halfway through the first day of camp and said, 'I was just wondering why you weren't here. Are you coming to band camp?' I told him what happened and that I decided to do ag instead. That wasn't greeted warmly ('It would've been nice if you would've let me know' was how he put it I think), but what could I expect? I sat idly by and watched my 'plan' get changed by a computer without contacting anyone...not even the person who had drawn up field plans with me in it.

A couple of twists in this crux took place a few weeks after that decision: my home room teacher was assigned to be...you guessed it...the band director; however, right before school started he took a job in administration at a neighboring school system. Very early into that first semester the new director had been told of my talent and began courting me to come back in the spring. I'm not sure why, but I never took him up on it.

I don't want to downplay the significance the agricultural emphasis of my high school education nor the role FFA played in developing me. I know I wouldn't be where I am today without my involvement in the FFA. It is one of the reasons my appearance to Wilmore was delayed by a couple of years...and the semester I transferred to Asbury I met my wife. I'm not sure if such a relationship would have occurred had I been in this neck of the woods sooner. Again, I don't want to downplay that significance, but I sometimes wonder if delaying the FFA involvement by one semester in my freshman year would have affected my involvement in the club to such a degree that I wouldn't have ascended as high as I did (state officer). And if it wouldn't have affected it, I wonder how my overall development would have been different by continuing the music emphasis in band throughout high school.

I miss performing. In the latter years of high school, I began to try to teach myself a little piano, but never seriously in actual lessons. Now I find myself longing to perform again...I still remember the slide positions' corresondence to notes for the trombone and the same for the baritone and trumpet, but I'm feeling the itch to play the piano. I'll be very busy doing research along with my jobs the next few years, but maybe somehow...someway I'll find the time and energy to get in touch with my musical gene/note and learn how to play.