Last evening my family went to my daughter’s high school pops concert. I was impressed with the quality of the music. The jazz band was amazing, the string orchestra rich and lush, the brass was polished (both literally and musically), there several choirs; overall it was a great concert!
The theme for the concert was Americana. We heard everything from rock and roll and Scott Joplin to some Walt Whitman stuff set to music. It was a high quality production with vocalists, projected images, recitations, and all around great music.
A major part of Americana is the military side of things. Let the record show that the stirring, martial music of all branches of our military was present and accounted for. It was moving to see old men, long retired from this or that branch of the military, be honored for their years of service. Each stood as the song from their branch of the service was played.
However, it was also quite jarring to hear the happy, dignified strains of the songs honoring those who served, while watching images of tanks, helicopters, and F-18s at war. Somehow the honor and dignity conveyed in the songs seemed darkened and sullied by the reality (projected images) of what war actually does to people; both those who must fight and those who are killed.
Nowhere in those spirited songs did anyone get the sense of how many service men and women have committed suicide after they returned home and were not able to re-integrate the horrors of their experience back into society. Nothing in the music reflected on my friend with PTSD (and thousands like him) who, after Vietnam, wonders through life destroying relationship after relationship with his explosive outbursts, and also missing from the music was the precious little help he did not received from the VA hospitals. The uplifting melodies did not reflect the increase in broken families and failed marriages that come with war. And finally, nowhere in the stirring music is one moved to think about the tally…you know, how many people did that tank crew have to kill? How many bombs did that sleek, beautiful F-18 drop, and on whom? And the kindly older gentleman who stood three rows back as the Marine Hymn was being played; what scars, emotional or otherwise, does he carry as a result of his participation?
My mind was filled with these musings. Was I the only one present who had these thoughts. Did anyone else wonder at the juxtaposition of amazing music and weapons of destruction, designed only to kill and maim the nameless enemies. Am I strange to think that somehow Jesus our Lord, shakes his head and sighs at the inability of humanity to get along? Am I nuts? Everyone else seemed to be fully at home and not giving the beautiful music paired with the violent images a second thought. Did the music somehow serve to sanitize reality? I left the concert deep in thought.
As we left my son summed it all up when he offered this unsolicited comment. “That sure was some joyous music for such a bloody occasion.” Ok. No blood was spilled at the concert. But he gets it! He understood the message and saw that it was both beautiful and terrifying at the same time. He understood that no amount of violins, brass, flutes, and kettle drums; or stirring, emotional music, can erase the violence of war or make it better.
Joyous music and bloody occasions…makes you think don’t it?
Peace,
Leon
We can only imagine changing the scene slightly… Beautiful music, filled with words and images that praise and honor our great Lord and Creator God! Oh thats right, the concert occured at a public school where the PC movement wants to squash anything that might even slightly hint at “establishment of any religion” or , heaven forbid (irony intented), allude to any possibility of a creator, His creation or even the idea of intelligent design!
That said, I am grateful for every man and woman who has laid aside interests of self to risk his/her life to protect our land. While I mourn lives lost to war (physically and otherwise), I honor the sacrifice of those who defended our freedom to live and worship the Trinity freely (despite the increasing interference of government).
No doubt about it Chuck. I too am compelled to honor anyone who is committed enough to die for his belief in what is right. Where you and I probably disagree is determining what constitutes “protecting our land” and “defended our freedom.”
While I do wish for more freedom to express oneself wherever, I also do not expect this or any other form of government to be the ultimate source of freedom. Even the best governments (and we have a good one) are systems of this world and as such do not necessarily have Christ’s kingdom in mind; especially in a country like ours where there are so many expressions of religion.
Thanks for expressing your thoughts.
So – how do we treat those who have returned from war with all the baggage in their memories? Do we take time to offer them a cleansing and healing from our Lord? Do we take time to even pray for them? Many times they cannot share what they have all hidden within – because we have not been in their shoes or because it is to inhuman for them to share.
Grace.
We can never compel someone to share. We can, however, create a safe space where people from all walks of life can feel confident of a loving, listening presence. I believe continued prayer for the people we know who carry heaviness in life is both a privilege and a responsibility. We can be the loving hands of Christ offering healing.
Well put!