Religious Education Update: December 17

A Christmas Miracle

The two major stories of the holiday season are all about miracles. How did the oil which was only enough to last for one day, burn for eight? Was there really a star over Bethlehem, or a choir of angels or a virgin birth? It is sometimes hard for UU’s to hear these ancient stories, because others would ask us to accept them as literal truth. For me, it is far easier to appreciate the miracles that happen to each of us during the holidays. Last night, a small miracle happened at the Old Adobe District Band concert.

The story of this miracle begins in September, when a very dedicated teacher at Miwok Valley School recruited many elementary age students to enroll in an afterschool trumpet class. She particularly reached out to children not normally served in school band programs--those whose parents don’t have the wherewithal to purchase or rent an instrument, buy a music book, or transport children to rehearsals or concerts. The teacher even offered to rent trumpets for children, to drive them home after their lessons, to drive them to ensemble rehearsals at another school, and to buy supplies such as music books and valve oil out of her own pocketbook.

Trumpet classes began and soon there were fourteen children enrolled, mostly young boys. The trumpet instructor and I quickly ran out of district owned instruments to lend, but we scrambled to get horns into every child’s hands. Then each week, more children appeared, all needing trumpets. The children had some interest in learning to read music and play correctly, but far more interest in impressing the others with how loudly they could blast.

A month before the concert, the kids could all make sounds, but they weren’t playing the right notes and were far too loud. When combined with the other instruments-- the flutes, clarinets and saxophones-- the trumpets’ wrong notes drowned out all the woodwinds’ more polished efforts. The ensemble teacher felt she had two choices: subject hundreds of innocent parents to a pretty terrible winter concert or throw the trumpets out of the band. When the trumpet teacher heard about this crisis, she became determined that these trumpet players would catch up to the woodwinds in one month. She scheduled extra rehearsals and the intensity of the lessons increased. Their songs began to be recognizable.

Last night, the trumpet players showed up to the concert in crisp white shirts and carefully combed hair. The band played, and the school principal turned to me and said, “Marlene, the trumpets are really strong.” The principal didn’t realize it, but his words stated that a holiday miracle happened in the multipurpose room last night.

As you and your families enjoy all the activities of this busy season, I hope that you will stop for just a moment and appreciate those little miracles that create magic in our lives.

Marlene Abel
Director of Religious Education