A Wedding Medley

It was the biggest wedding for which I had ever played. The bride wanted a worshipful ceremony, with all her friends attending. The church was filled to capacity, which is 800 people. She knew and loved everyone because she administered the children’s program.  To assure full attendance, it was a holiday, Remembrance Day.

In planning the music, she asked the organist to play the introductory selections and the pianist to play for her singing group. The piper would play the bride and groom out of the church to the reception hall immediately after the ceremony.

The bride and I sat down beforehand in the sanctuary and discussed the piper’s music. She wanted it to be worshipful and to include recognizable hymn-tunes suitable to the occasion. My pipes were with me, so I began with, “Blest Be The Tie That Binds,” “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling,” and “The Love of God.” She was delighted and said she would love to have me continue the medley with hymns such as those, to lead the guests from the sanctuary into the reception hall.

When the time came, I played additional hymns to include, “When Love is Found,” “What a Fellowship,” “Standing on the Promises,” “Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee,” “Hail the Glorious Golden City,” “Highland Cathedral.” and “I Am So Glad.”

Recently, I asked another piper what tune he played to bring in the bride. He answered, “Scotland the Brave,” adding that for most people, it’s simply the majestic sound of the pipes that they like to hear and that the tune itself doesn’t matter. Once, I heard a piper playing “The Road to the Isles,” to pipe the bride and groom out of the church. Appropriate tunes would have been “The Highland Wedding March,” Mary’s Wedding” or “Highland Cathedral.” Of course, it depends upon a piper’s repertoire.

To pipe in the bride, it is well to play classical pieces such as the ones to be found in “Wedding Music for the Church Piper.” Less formal music could be played to pipe the bride and groom from the church. For this recent wedding, I thoroughly enjoyed playing music that was familiar to everyone, having them stand around me, even singing, and taking pictures as I played.

Looking Back From the Future

My wife and I were asked to participate in a research project by a couple of university students. Their objective was to gather information from seniors, to help them in the design of an interesting environment for residents in a Seniors’ Residence. I don’t know how they will use it, but we will eventually receive their report.

We were each given a box that we were asked to decorate. Inside, were beads of various sizes and shapes. They were to be dropped into a glass jar according to our moods during the week. We were to draw a colored picture of our own choosing. Our imaginations were needed to complete the house for which an outline was given, and with the disposable camera, we were to photograph whatever appealed to us. Most challenging, was the request to write a letter that day, to our own self, who would be 20 years old.

Indeed, this boggled my mind, as did the movie, “Back to the Future.” Nevertheless, I imagined myself at 20, interested to read the letter and know something about our future and the decisions he must make for us in the decades ahead.

I congratulated myself on having achieved three years at university, with only another before graduation. I didn’t warn myself that one year would expand into another ten, before I could say I was trained for my vocation. I said he’d have the considerable task to decide what he was going to be in life and it would be as though he, the young person, was responsible for choosing the grown man’s vocation.

I mentioned that he and his brother Ken, who became a dentist, had taken up flying lessons after their final graduations and were taught to be careful pilots. Keith took his friends for flights and not long afterwards, two of them lost their lives, because they decided to do some low-level acrobatics even though they had been taught to be careful. This accident and another, in which I was driving on the highway and was cut off, made me a safer driver. I warned my young self to be cautious when driving. He was responsible for my life and for others. In the car accident about which I spoke, he would find himself in the ditch with only a slice in his back door. I know this would be a valuable warning to myself as I matured.

I advised Keith, not to be influenced by other students who would be having a great time outside when they should be preparing for final exams. There would be plenty of time for him in the years ahead, to enjoy glorious days outside, satisfied that he had prepared me well for my life’s work.

I advised him that he would be lonely in the early years of his professional practice, but that it would be worthwhile to wait until the right person came into his life, to get married and have a family. I told him that he could anticipate having two achieving children, a son and a daughter who would grow up and have their own families. He would have 5 grandchildren.

Although what transpired in my life will be exactly what my young self at 20 will still experience, there’s satisfaction in thinking that congratulating him for his achievements thus far and warning him about the dangers in life would be as helpful to him as if he was receiving a message from the future, to guide his way through life. In addition to the dangers that he would be wise to avoid, he would have good opportunities that he should not miss. By trusting God, he could be confident that he was doing what was right and that his life would be happiest.

I told him about my recent engagements playing the bagpipes for several weddings and funerals and that it would be worthwhile for him to cultivate this kind of diversion  from his work, for relaxation and the sake of developing friendships.