Music As Service

Memorial Day Taps Across America Challenge

It took us a while to figure out an instrument for Solomon Richey to play, given his wiry frame and unusual bone structure. But he has taken to the trumpet, like a fish to water. He’s not been taking lessons for too long, but he’s been working on his playing quite a bit.

Last week I asked him if he would be willing to play Taps. I said any excellent trumpet/bugle player needed to be able to play Taps. He figured it out in a low-sounding key. Then, Saturday, I asked him if he could raise the key a little so that he could play Taps on Memorial Day for the “Taps Across America” challenge that started a few years ago. I told him a shorter version of what I try to remind all of my music students—Musicians are Servants.

Parable of the Talents

Many today see musicians as celebrities more than servants. I want my music students to see their gifting to sing and play music as a way to bless and serve others in large part. I remind them of the Biblical “Parable of the Talents” in Matthew 25, where the Master rebukes the Servant for not investing and turning a profit on the Master’s talent or coin currency.¹ We often speak of people being “talented in music.” We should think of that talent or ability as something that should be invested and built up. We want that talent to turn a profit for the Kingdom in small and large ways where we have the opportunity. I try to guide my students to see their giftings as not merely belonging to them for their own personal pleasure and fulfillment. They should always see it as a way to serve and bless when and where opportunity allows.

A Fun Memory of Solly and Gramps

In 2011, 3-year-old Solomon put on Gramps’ Tilley hat and walked like him to everyone’s great enjoyment.

Mr. Dick’s (a.k.a. “Gramps”) love language was teasing and jesting. He wouldn’t even get out of the car before giving his grandchildren and great-grandchildren just the right amount of ribbing to let them know he loved and cared for them.

Solly greets Gramps at a cousin’s wedding rehearsal dinner. Solly’s crossed arms signal that he was ready for “Gramps’s” antics.

So yesterday, we briefly broke away from the family Memorial Day festivities at our family property in Natchez, MS, and visited Gramps’ headstone. John Richardson Ayres served in the Second World War and the Korean Conflict. Mr. Dick Ayres never got to hear Solly play the trumpet. Still, I’m sure he would have been delighted to see him using his, albeit, greenhorn trumpet playing in an act of kindness and service.

1. See Matthew 25:14–30