Joy to the World!

st.ceciliaicon
Originally uploaded by Randuwa

There are students you have as a teacher whom utterly enchant you. They are so amazing in their talents, their demeanor, their promise, that you can't help but fall into a Philia-like love with them -- like a secondary parent. J. is that kind of student. So when he gave us a couple of tickets to his holiday concert with a community youth orchestra, my school's librarian and I agreed to go.

For both of us it meant remaining at school late, doing dinner together somewhere, and then making our way to the venue: a United Methodist Church called St. Cecilia's in Damascus, Maryland.

Dinner was pleasent. By contrast, the sojourn to Damascus -- a hellish traverse; Damascus, Maryland is as far away from my home in my county as one can go!

The event was great simply because we both knew how much it meant to J. to have us attend. And it was great because it was really an anthropological experiment of the highest order. Me, the renewed agnostic, my friend, the practicing Jew; trapped in a "Lake Wobegon-esque" reality.

The director was a petite and mousey women in full Mennonite head-dress who was home schooling her own children to save them from the evils of a secular world, and founded the orchestra to give them a chance to play their instruments (an orchestra open to all). Her co-directors were her mom and dad, both retired music teachers from my school district. Most of the selections were arranged by her father, and she meekly reminded us of this ad nausea!

The evening opened with a prayer, and I kept my eyes open out of respect for my Jewish friend, she closed hers out of respect for the assembled mob.

The orchestra was large and their prowess impressive for the ramshackled nature of the enterprise. Time and again, we were encouraged to sing along with the carols. My friend is a Jew who enjoys holiday carols!

After all but the finale was performed, the young director interrupted the show to thank those who helped her. This turned into a surrealist nightmare before we knew it....seconds became minutes, and minutes rambled into "hours" (how long does it need to take to name everyone who has ever done anything for you?) -- at one point I threatened to stand up with the next gracious acknowledgement of something someone supported to make this incredible moment possible--just to see what the assembled crowd would do. We both agreed that this home-schooling mom desperately needs to get out more! And, in spite of our best desires, we slipped out after a little more than an hour to face our commutes home.

I told my friend just prior to our escape that this reminded me of an episode of Star Trek Voyager when an away team was trapped in an alien culture.....

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas....Everywhere we go....