Monday, August 7, 2023

How a Trumpet Got Me to Basel

This Bach Stradivarius trumpet got me to Basel. 

I started playing trumpet in the 5th grade at Kainalu Elementary School. From 7th to 8th grade I played trumpet at Kailua Intermediate School. Then from 9th grade to 12th grade I played trumpet at Kailua High School. 

This was (and is) the band building. 

I spent countless hours here practicing and rehearsing for our concerts. 

I also played in the marching band. The current marching band was practicing the day I happened to visit last week. They sounded awesome. 

Note: I did NOT play high school football. Real men at KHS played football. Playing in the band was a surefire way to get your man-card taken away.  But I knew that music would get me much farther in life than sports so I didn't care. Finally, in 1978, 2 years after Becky and I got married, we went to Germany for 3 months, where I played trumpet on a brass octet called Eurocorps. During that stint in Europe I was able to visit all of the universities I thought I might want to attend for my doctorate, including the one in Basel, Switzerland. Had I not played the trumpet, I doubt that I would would have had that opportunity. 

Take a few minutes and think about the ways in which God has shown you the way forward through something as inconsequential as a trumpet. He has not left you to blunder your way through life in darkness like some sadistic father. Rather, "Every detail of our lives in love for God is worked into something good" (Rom. 8:28, The Message). That is to say, he guides you in your Christian walk. 

Rest assured. He has a plan for your life.