I volunteered to help hand out marching band uniforms yesterday at my son’s high school. He’s a freshman so this was a first time for me. High school marching band meets throughout the day in sections. The first class of the day was drumline which includes all of percussion.
When the kids arrived for class, the band director spoke with them for a few minutes and then told them to get out their instruments. The noise and chaos (or so it seemed to me), that ensued, was close to deafening. Everyone was playing a different beat on a different instrument. I knew intellectually, that the director had been teaching band for years, but the noise, the noise….
What seemed like forever later, although in reality it was only a short time, the director took the podium. The room was silent. He gave some instructions and they played together. It was still incredibly loud, but it was music, with a beat. They were good. It made sense.
The next class was brass instruments. There were a lot more of them that in the drumline. The same thing happened. The director spoke with them for a few minutes and the noise began. Those tubas and trombones made every bit as much racket as the percussion group.
Once again, the band director took the podium, pin drop silence occurred first and then beautiful music. Towards the end of the class, I was tapping along and wanting to yell out a cheer with them. Who would have thought out of all that chaos, that beautiful music could be produced?
Well, everyone but me, I suspect. The band director knew and the band members knew too. It was the casual observer, the outsider, who didn’t know.
Later on that day, he would bring all of the rest of the groups together with the first two and have them march and play as a team. The result would be fabulous.
After I went home and took a couple of Advil, I pondered the workings of the marching band and how similar they are to the Christian Church.
To the outside observer, we often look like a mess. We run in different directions and are passionate about so many different callings and causes that it seems like we could never really come together and accomplish much of anything.
But, our Divine Director, changes everything. When He takes the podium and we listen to Him and follow His directions through the Bible, and through prayer, we become a Divine Marching Band of Christian Soldiers. We produce beautiful acts, beautiful music and we can change the world. We are a force to be reckoned with and we are unstoppable.
All we have to do is be willing to listen and follow. The results are nothing short of miraculous. Anyone feel like marching?
Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂
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