Taps {or “unexpected things”}

 

 

Well my dear ones,

 

 

Recently, “Pops,” a friend of mine,

also known as “The Human Trumpet,”

was performing at a get-together.

 

When he went to play “Taps,”

he asked if I would say the lyrics

while he played it.

 

Me: “Taps has words?

 

Weeks later,

I heard a pastor,

who’s a former bugler,

singing the words to Taps

as someone played it,

and I was able to sing along,

using the lyrics on the card

that Pops had given me:

 

Day is done

Gone the sun

From the lakes

From the hills

From the sky

All is well

Safely rest

God is nigh.

 

Those are cool words.

“God is nigh.” I like that.

 

And it surprised me to learn

that during the Civil War

(when it was composed),

this tune was far from somber.

 

http://militaryhistorynow.com/2012/07/11/final-notes-taps-the-last-post-and-other-military-funeral-tunes/

 

Also known as “Day is Done,”

and “Butterfield’s Lullaby,”

this tune stared out

as a nice way to end the day;

I’ve read of parents singing it

to their kids when tucking them in.

 

So, what I thought was a dirge

started out as a sweet lullaby.

 

Yet we get so conditioned

to certain patterns,

to certain ways of thinking,

that they can skew our view

and cause us to miss out

on the unexpected things.

 

Traffic jams.

 

They’re always bad.

 

Right!  Taps is a funeral dirge,

and traffic jams are always bad!

 

Oh wait, Taps was a lullaby...

 

So, was there ever a traffic jam

that people enjoyed?

 

I heard of one recently;

One woman involved in it said,

“It was the highlight of the month!”

 

Why?

Because a string quartet,

on their way home from playing a wedding,

decided to get out their instruments

and play some tunes to lift

everyone’s spirits.

 

http://metro.co.uk/2015/09/14/string-quartet-calms-down-motorists-during-huge-m5-traffic-jam-5391067/

 

That’s way cool!

And surely an unexpected thing

for everyone else involved.

 

So, the next time you run into

a fretful, stressful situation,

stop and ask yourself,

“Does this really need to have

 the bad outcome I’m expecting?

 Or might there be a better way,

 even if that better way

 is nothing more than me

 changing my attitude

 about the way I think things

 need to be?”

 

Have a great week!

 

grace, peace, and love to you,

dave