She was nine years old; blond-haired, blue-eyed, well-fed and dressed in her Sunday best. At the moment she was hiding under the check-in table and tattling loudly. The music teacher recruited as Sunday kids choir director sighed and surveyed the chaos. Would they accomplish anything that morning? The musical was six weeks away. Obstructing the distance between teacher and the piano, two eight-year-old boys were wrestling on the carpet.
“He’s calling me names!” shouted Goldilocks from beneath her 2 X 4 and Formica hideout. “Make him stop!” she demanded, “He said I always got my own way! He said I was spoiled!” “Well, are you?” Asked the music teacher reasonably. “No!” shouted the girl. “Then I wouldn’t much worry about it,” replied the teacher.
In the shocked silence that emanated from under the table, the teacher strode to the piano and called out, “Okay everybody, let’s sing. Here we go! The Secret of My Success!” She sounded the introductory chords with a good deal of forte and began to sing. Voices joined in. The majority of practice minutes were saved.
An afternoon walk into town reveals a good amount of chaos and tattling at this time in history. Campaign signs sneer from every yard. Paid ads flood Facebook. Mailboxes burst with political literature from every party, addressed to every known resident for the past four years. Placards and cardstock scream sentiments loudly. “He’s a socialist! She’s out of touch! He’ll sell us to the communists! She’ll take away your constitutional rights!” The music teacher, now retired, sighs as she walks by each yard. The translation is always the same; The entire demise of the world is laid to your blame if you don’t see it my way! Would they accomplish anything this November? The elections were weeks away. She wants to look each of the candidates in the eye and ask, “Well, is it true?” She wishes she could reason with the most vocal of her friends and ask, “Is it the end of the world if you don’t get your own way?” She wants to calm the anger and anxiety. “God only knows, so I wouldn’t much worry about it.” But mostly, she thinks, please people, quit tattling and just sing.
When they lay down the weapons of argument and attack us with musical notes, what can we do? – US elections of 1840; Harnessing Harmony; Election Day; American Heritage History of the Presidents).
It is 2020 – let’s make some music!