Clarinets and Trombone Slides

    This past week I attended my oldest son’s band concert.  This was the sixth grade band, the first year band, and it was their first concert.  One hundred strong, the band did a wonderful job sharing their newly found gift and even teaching the audience a bit about their instruments and how they work.
    While I sat in the audience a flood of memories came back of my first band experiences.  For me it was fifth grade.  I started on the trumpet (my son now doing the same), but since I was a big guy and enjoyed it so much, they asked me to play the Baritone – a brass instrument deeper than a trumpet and not as deep as a Tuba.  Though singing and voice lessons eventually won me over, listening to my son’s band reminded me of how much I enjoyed playing.

    My wife is a singer, plays the piano, organ, and when she was in school, played the flute.  So while listening to the band, we were both keyed into more than just the kids in front of us but also the sound.  As such, we both found it wonderfully refreshing to be in a concert where clarinets were squeaking and trombone slides tinging on the chair legs in front of them.

    Inevitably, just as the band seemed to have things all together, we’d hear a squeak or the sound of metal hitting metal, and on impulse we would glance at each other and smile.  At the more obvious mis-sounds, we’d add a chuckle.

    Most comical and refreshing was when each section stood up to play a song together.  The flutes, clarinets, and trumpets had it easy, but when the trombones stood up to play their piece, our friend the chair hitter was on the very end, right in view of everyone.  So when he began playing we had a front row seat to see the girl in front of him lean to the side of her chair and turn her body to keep an eye on him, just in case.  It was almost as good as a boxing match with the bobbing and weaving she had to do to avoid a bonk on the head, but she made it through the piece unscathed.
    Don’t get me wrong, it was a wonderful concert, and I don’t intend to make fun of anyone.  Instead, I just loved the freshness of what we were experiencing and the joy of sharing the experience.  These were kids loving what they were doing, and they were so excited to share their gifts.  It was indeed a blessing, and I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.
  
    When Jesus was around he spent an awful lot of time in situations where things were not perfect, social norms were not followed, and people of varying levels of talent and gifts were gathered, and I’d imagine that there were a lot of “squeaking and trombone slide clinking” going on.  Things were not as expected, and yet it was in those very times and spaces that people caught a glimpse of what the Kingdom of God looks like.
    The Kingdom is that place where all are invited, and all are welcome to receive the love and grace of God.  Where all are valued and all that we do is seen as beautiful.  The Kingdom is that place where we discover the joy of what has been given in Christ, is given daily by the Spirit, and will be given by the Creator.
    The other night amid the squeaks and clinks, we caught a glimpse of the Kingdom to come, the very thing that we anticipate in the coming of Christ during this Advent season, and what a blessing that was!

    When was the last time you were in a ‘not so perfect’ situation?  How did you react?  In looking back, could it be that you caught a glimpse of the Kingdom of God, even there?