Paige and I had a great opportunity recently. The sixth grade child of some of our long-time friends had his first band concert. This is always a special thing for a kid, so we wanted to go and support him. The first thing you need to understand is that for 90% of the kids, this was their very first public performance with their instruments. Most got them four months ago and ALL of them did a great job. Please know this post has nothing to do with the performance of the kids, per se.
The first group to perform was the sixth grade orchestra. They began with a few familiar pieces that you would most likely recognize. If you have never been to a beginner's concert, understand that the kids are differently-abled. Some pick it up quickly while others struggle. I remember playing double-bass in the sixth grade orchestra in the very same auditorium I was standing in. It can be a terrifying thing. There are always missed notes as little fingers struggle to find their places on the fingerboard. The bow being scraped across the strings can sometimes be as unnerving as nails on a chalkboard. As the great Charlie Daniels once said, it can make an evil hiss. These kinds of beginner's mistakes are always expected at these types of performances. However, as I watched and listened, I picked up on a curious thing.
While I play a few instruments and sing a little, I am not a classically-trained musician nor have I the education in music that my lovely and talented wife has. So in an effort to affirm my suspicions, I did what any good husband does in that situation--- I elbowed her in the ribs. Like a good wife, she nodded her head without even needing my verbal explanation. I was right. The conductor was slowing her tempo. The natural tendency for the young musician is to play slowly, especially when mistakes are being made or are likely to be made. The conductor, however, slowed her tempo in an effort to match the kids. The results were not pretty. The piece started much more slowly than the piece would normally be played and that is to be expected. But what started slowly became p a i n f u l l y s l o w. If we had had a metronome keeping the beat, what started at about 60 beats per minute (bpm) was now somewhere around 40 bpm. Naturally, the sound produced by the orchestra became increasingly muddled as the kids lost the beat. While I am not the foremost authority on instrumental music pedagogy, I know enough to know the importance of staying on the beat.
In any kind of musical performance, the beat is paramount. It keeps everyone together. If you have a weak drummer in a rock band, you will have a weak, hamstrung band. Even the best musicians can't compensate for the loss of the beat. The beat or tempo is the standard that MUST be maintained so that the musicians can stay together and make beautiful music. Musically speaking, if you lower the standard and change the tempo, the quality of music will suffer. As you can well-imagine, the ramifications of loose or ever-changing standards in any and all walks of life will have a detrimental effect on the end product.
I have observed this in many situations. In my humble opinion, some of the things I am seeing in our schools reflect a desire to allow the kids who are "playing more slowly than others" to catch up by lowering some standards and adjusting some methods. In microcosm, some of these things seem like good ideas. But in the macrocosm, when these kids get out into the real world where 2+2=4, 2+2= 5 or 6 or something kind of 4ish will not cut it. In most venues of life, close does not count.
It's Christmas. Despite all the efforts to the contrary, Christmas is celebrated for one reason only. To honor and celebrate the birth of Jesus. In Hebrew, He is the Messiah. In Greek, He is the Christ. Both of which mean that Jesus is the Annointed One, the Chosen, the Savior, the Redeemer, Deliverer. Jesus came to us (Emmanuel) to be the atonement for our sin. To pay the penalty that we could not pay. He declares about Himself in John 14:6, "I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me." What does this have to do with the previous line of thinking? Good question.
The standard acceptable to God for admission to Heaven is perfection. This standard is non-negotiable and never changes. The bad news is we don't qualify. The worse news is, in and of ourselves, we can NEVER be qualified. No matter how much good we try to do, no matter how much money we give, no matter what kind of life we try to live, we will never measure up. The GOOD news is, Jesus paid it all! Jesus qualifies us when we confess with our mouth that He is Lord and believe in our heart that God raised Him from the dead (Romans 10:9-10).
Don't lower your standards to believe what the world says. Experience all that Christmas means this year by experiencing the standard of living available only through Jesus Christ.
And in case you have been in school all day, or at work, or at the store, or at the mall, where no one was allowed to say it to you, Merry Christmas!
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