(no subject)
I was born and rasied in Virginia. To most of the country, Virginia is part of the south. In Virginia, we don't quite feel 'southern'. Southern starts where people have accents. You know, down in the Carolinas.
In Virginia, you are raised knowing that Virginia was the birthplace of our nation. Virginia had the first permanent British settlement, Jamestown. Virginia was where Patrick Henry made his famous 'give me liberty or give me death' speech. Virginia was the home of Thomas Jefferson and where he wrote the Declaration of Independence. Virginia was where the British surrendered following the Revolution. Virginia was the home of our earliest presidents. When you grow up in Virginia you grow up firm in the knowledge that whatever else happened, Virginia was where this country started.
So growing up in Virginia, I didn't think of myself as a southern girl. Oh, I knew that Richmond was the capital of the Confederacy. Where else would it be? Still, we weren't the deep south. We were Virginia.
It wasn't until I moved to California that I experienced how much of a southern girl that I am. It is in so many little things I had never thought of before. The most obvious is the food: Vidalia onions, Georgia peaches, blue claw crab, Carolina bbq and Smithfield ham. It is also there in more subtle ways - like the manners I was raised with and my ideas about behavior and etiquette.
So being more aware of my southern heritage I was not surprised at my reaction when we started rehearsing a piece in band called, 'The Blue and The Gray'. It is a collection of civil war songs that goes back and forth between northern and southern songs. As the piece builds, the songs get more intense and you wonder how it will end. . . will it be with a northern or a southern song?
Toward the end, Dixie starts and then the Battle Hymn of the Republic surges forth and then they start to weave together, not in competition but in harmony. The last part is Dixie and the Battle Hymn together, neither one stronger than the other.
When we start playing, 'The Blue and the Gray', it is fun for me. I love playing the melodies that I grew up with. As it progresses and the songs get sweeter and more intense, it is easy to lose myself in the music. When Dixie starts, the southern girl in me just delights. When the Battle Hymn of the Republic starts, the lyrics 'as He died to make men holy, let us live to make men free' always go through my mind. For me, it sums up so much of what our country has been about. So when the delight of Dixie and the conviction of the Battle Hymn start to interweave, it is hard for me not to tear up while I am playing.
Lately we are so much a country that is divided. Not between the North and the South but in ideological, religious and economic ways. Playing this piece reminds me that whatever our differences, we are still one nation.
It is not just as individuals that we must relearn the same lesson many times. As a nation, we must also relearn our lessons. Many times we have been divided - once in civil war. If we are to continue as a nation, we have to find a way to weave ourselves together - to take themes and melodies that seem totally opposite and make harmony with them.
If there has been a theme to the last decade of my life, it has been one of healing. I know without a doubt that healing is possible. I know that wounds, deep wounds, can heal and that even the ugliest scars can fade. I know that brokenness can be mended. I know that wholeness is possible.
I know that if it is possible for me, it is possible for others. I know if it is possible for individuals, then it is possible for communities. And I know, without doubt, that it is possible for our nation.
In Virginia, you are raised knowing that Virginia was the birthplace of our nation. Virginia had the first permanent British settlement, Jamestown. Virginia was where Patrick Henry made his famous 'give me liberty or give me death' speech. Virginia was the home of Thomas Jefferson and where he wrote the Declaration of Independence. Virginia was where the British surrendered following the Revolution. Virginia was the home of our earliest presidents. When you grow up in Virginia you grow up firm in the knowledge that whatever else happened, Virginia was where this country started.
So growing up in Virginia, I didn't think of myself as a southern girl. Oh, I knew that Richmond was the capital of the Confederacy. Where else would it be? Still, we weren't the deep south. We were Virginia.
It wasn't until I moved to California that I experienced how much of a southern girl that I am. It is in so many little things I had never thought of before. The most obvious is the food: Vidalia onions, Georgia peaches, blue claw crab, Carolina bbq and Smithfield ham. It is also there in more subtle ways - like the manners I was raised with and my ideas about behavior and etiquette.
So being more aware of my southern heritage I was not surprised at my reaction when we started rehearsing a piece in band called, 'The Blue and The Gray'. It is a collection of civil war songs that goes back and forth between northern and southern songs. As the piece builds, the songs get more intense and you wonder how it will end. . . will it be with a northern or a southern song?
Toward the end, Dixie starts and then the Battle Hymn of the Republic surges forth and then they start to weave together, not in competition but in harmony. The last part is Dixie and the Battle Hymn together, neither one stronger than the other.
When we start playing, 'The Blue and the Gray', it is fun for me. I love playing the melodies that I grew up with. As it progresses and the songs get sweeter and more intense, it is easy to lose myself in the music. When Dixie starts, the southern girl in me just delights. When the Battle Hymn of the Republic starts, the lyrics 'as He died to make men holy, let us live to make men free' always go through my mind. For me, it sums up so much of what our country has been about. So when the delight of Dixie and the conviction of the Battle Hymn start to interweave, it is hard for me not to tear up while I am playing.
Lately we are so much a country that is divided. Not between the North and the South but in ideological, religious and economic ways. Playing this piece reminds me that whatever our differences, we are still one nation.
It is not just as individuals that we must relearn the same lesson many times. As a nation, we must also relearn our lessons. Many times we have been divided - once in civil war. If we are to continue as a nation, we have to find a way to weave ourselves together - to take themes and melodies that seem totally opposite and make harmony with them.
If there has been a theme to the last decade of my life, it has been one of healing. I know without a doubt that healing is possible. I know that wounds, deep wounds, can heal and that even the ugliest scars can fade. I know that brokenness can be mended. I know that wholeness is possible.
I know that if it is possible for me, it is possible for others. I know if it is possible for individuals, then it is possible for communities. And I know, without doubt, that it is possible for our nation.