Beyond Coincidence

For exercise, my wife and I like to walk in the neighborhood along numerous pathways and through local forests. We live close to the border of the United States, so we decided to check the scenery in Washington State, just south of British Columbia. Friends told us about an interesting walk near Bellingham. On a Monday morning, we set off to discover the walk and brought a picnic lunch to enjoy after our hike.

Finding the parking lot and the pathway, we followed it down to a stream and then up onto a street. An arrow on a post pointed in opposite directions and we were undecided which way to go. We asked a tall gentleman who came along, and he volunteered to direct us. He told us he had walked on this pathway many times and that he would be pleased to show us if we cared to walk along with him. As we walked, he gave us a running commentary, showing us where there had been factories, shipping docks, a railway station, and now luxury apartments. The path took us down gullies with mountain streams, and back up onto an interesting business street. Along either side of that street were cherry trees in full blossom and far ahead, across the bay, could be seen white-capped mountains. We walked along the seashore and through a park where people were enjoying the sunny day.

Ultimately, our new friend left and continued on his way into town. He had been of considerable help to us when we wanted to become acquainted with the town’s scenery. His coming along was beyond coincidence, because we realize it’s the way God interjects Himself into our everyday activities. He lets us know of His presence if we are aware. If we are not aware, we would miss much of what He does for us that show He cares, and because we know of God’s presence, we can acknowledge His thoughtfulness.

Isaiah 46:4

A few days later, we once again experienced God’s loving presence. It was at the church youth’s garage sale. Many tables were set up, and people were sorting through abundant items. Opposite the entrance, a few people were in the library, and I was attracted there. A lady said to me as I entered, “You should have your bagpipes, to create an atmosphere of excitement.” I answered that it would be an excellent idea and I’ll check into it the next time there’s a garage sale. A man inspecting some article, looked up and asked, “Are you a piper?” “Oh yes,” was my response. “I’ve piped for events such as this.” He replied that he also was a piper and that he too, was accustomed to playing at various events. He wondered if I was attached to any pipe band in the area. When I answered that I was quite new here, and hadn’t found a pipe band yet, he produced his card and said he’d give me a call and an invitation to several bands in which he played.

I’ve been hoping and praying that God would pave the way to a pipe band and an opportunity for me to keep in practice. I’m sure God was answering my prayer. I’m especially aware of His presence, for I realize that I was in the church hall less than two minutes before meeting the only other piper in the church hall. We should always be aware of God’s helpful presence. Otherwise we would miss some wonderful experiences.

Ringing In Your Ears

Today, a tune was going through my head, and I couldn’t think of its name. The words became gradually clearer and I could hear, “Come and reign over us, Ancient of Days.” That name, “Ancient of Days,” is oftentimes given to God. The tune took shape in my head and I confirmed the title from one of my several hymnbooks. It was, “Come, Thou Almighty King,” and the words went like this,

                                               “Come Thou Almighty King,
                                                 Help us Thy name to sing,
                                                 Help us to praise:
                                                 Father, all glorious, O’er all, victorious,
                                                 Come and reign over us, Ancient of Days.

This hymn is one I arranged for the pipes years ago, and I’ve played it numerous times for call to worship in medleys with other hymns. It’s beautiful, and even more so, when played in church for morning worship.

I had the urge to arrange another piece of music for the pipes after hearing a song that particularly touched my senses. It was after I attended a men’s barbershop choir and sang their parting song “An Irish Blessing,” with them. I undertook the task, which presented a challenge because there was an interlude that didn’t have words and of course, the music and words had to be coordinated. Also, four high G’s, that were fine in the barbershop rendition, didn’t sound well on the pipes.

I shared my project with a young Christian lady piper in North Carolina, a person very enthusiastic about arranging music to suit the pipes. She and her piping teacher were very helpful. They sent me web sites for this hymn so I could hear the different arrangements performed by choirs. Working together, I was thrilled to learn still more about arranging. For example, one can stray slightly from the tune and still not make a significant change in it. For instance, those four high G quarter notes could be replaced by a little run-down that even improved the tune. There’s something special about sharing a project with another piper so both can get enjoyment.

Together, we came up with a setting that I think will be as standard for pipers as “Amazing Grace.” I hope pipers will eventually adopt the hymn and add it to their repertoire just as Barbershoppers have adopted it to theirs.

One of the men in our church knew that I had been working on “An Evening Prayer,” and gave me another hymn, which he thought would interest me. It is, “The Blessing,” with verses quite similar, yet different, and still reflecting strongly upon the Scriptures that inspired the song. It’s in 4/4 time as compared with 3/4 time; a nice addition to the first, and not quite as difficult to arrange. It came in the key of D, which is a natural for pipes, and only required a small change in the introduction, which began with low F followed by G. We don’t have the F. However, by changing the introduction to C and B it was a small concession for the sake of making this another great bagpipe selection.

Arranging these two hymns was during my editing of a new volume called “Patriotic Music and Familiar Folk Songs,” Volume 15 of The Church Piper. The task has been completed and the book should be available in the fall of 2013 for those who are interested. These two hymns won’t be in it for they’ve arrived too late. Possibly, they’ll be presented in a subsequent volume. I hope so.

A Piper's Diversion

I look forward to Wednesday afternoons. That’s when our 8-year-old granddaughter visits us after school; between school and her Highland dancing lesson. We both love to do picture puzzles. Working together is ecstasy.

Not so long ago, I brought home a beautiful 500-piece puzzle from the library. There, one can trade one puzzle for another. This one is particularly attractive as well as challenging. It’s of an old train waiting for passengers at the railroad station. There are mountains and a desert in the background. That Wednesday afternoon, when our granddaughter arrived, she went straight for the dining room table where the colorful box containing the puzzle awaited.

It was an exciting moment when the pieces were emptied onto the table. Julia couldn’t wait until they had all been turned right side up. Instead, among the pile of confusing pieces, she found some that would fit. She wasn’t inclined to waste time sorting for color or edges at this preliminary stage. Later, but not yet.

Since she is so keen on finding the pieces that fit, I tended to do the rough sorting. Starting by turning all the pieces right side up, and finding the edge pieces, I maneuvered them into their similar colors and ones with markings that presented clues, while not trying too desperately, to put the puzzle together. I did, however, try to set up the border, but not entirely alone. Once there was some semblance of organization to the project, the pieces fairly flew into place. I’m astounded at the rapidity of how often I’d hear, “I got one,” followed by an audible hand pat, which assured that particular piece was secure and had completed its part of the picture.

Naturally, a 500-piece puzzle isn’t one that two can put together in the short time between school and a Highland dancing lesson. It would require several episodes at least, to complete it. Some of the time is always spent having an after-school luncheon and getting dressed for dancing. Consequently, I had to promise not to look at the puzzle until next week before her lesson. Can you think how difficult it has been to walk past the puzzle and see with a glance, the obvious likelihood that certain pieces were bound to go here or there? To ignore our mutual project for a week and then still another week has been a challenge to prove its worth. The enthusiasm abounding in our granddaughter upon her arrival to continue our project has proven how worthwhile the long wait can be.

This particular puzzle is interesting with the various well-dressed people, the colorful train engine, the station and the background scenery. At one point, Julia saw that the central area containing pieces that made up a three-inch square of the train engine was in the right area because it contained the large wheels, but somehow, nothing around it fitted. Then, she made the spontaneous discovery, that the section was upside-down. She reminded me of the physicist Archimedes, when he discovered how an object placed in water would displace the amount of water equivalent to its own weight. In other words, the weight of the displaced water represents the buoyant force supporting the object. “Ureka, I found it,” was his reaction.” Julia’s was similar. “Grandpa, the piece was upside down. No wonder it wouldn’t work!” Once turned around, the surrounding pieces fitted perfectly.

After we complete this puzzle, I hope to have found another one at the library, to await Julia’s arrival so the two of us can work as a team, and learn that two working together is far better than one alone. What a great time we are having doing something that’s appealing to us both.

Sacred Moments

In those sacred moments in which the piper marches into a church sanctuary to lead a congregation in call to worship, the Lord, the piper and the congregation are united in a spirit of reverence. It is only possible to lead a congregation in praise and worship with honesty, if God has been reverenced every day of the week; not merely in these few minutes when the music is raised heavenward. God’s name could not have been used in vain, nor could anger and impatience have crowded out love and thoughtfulness.

The piper has to be clean in body, soul and spirit, renewed and presentable without guilt. Playing for God’s glorification must be at the highest level of a person’s ability. One needs a clear conscience that nothing is interfering with the relationship between God and the musical presentation. That would make “call to worship” a hollow mockery. Church pipers must try honestly during the week, to do God’s will. When every effort to respect the holiness of God has been sincere, the offering of praise is acceptable because God’s forgiveness is certain.

Everyone experiences some apprehension when having to lead a congregation in praise. Pipers would know of barriers that once were a hindrance to their offering of praise, but have been forgiven by having admitted those barriers. God’s grace would have erased them. By presenting themselves as clean vehicles through which others too, may praise God, pipers can be confident of His acceptance of their praise. Relaxation and enjoyment in fellowship with God, while playing the pipes for Him is the nature of piping in church. The piper who has absolute assurance of God’s forgiveness, can play with ease. One only has to ask for forgiveness of sinfulness and then strive to change his or her way of life for the better. Even now, we may bow our heads and ask Jesus to consider our transgressions paid in full. He intended them to be, when His body was nailed to that awful“tree.”

Romans 12:1-2

A prominent Biblical writer, the apostle Paul, admonished his friends to present their bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which would be their reasonable service. And, while emphasizing their need to keep both minds and bodies sinless and allow the Lord to dwell in their hearts, Paul told his Corinthian friends that they were the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwelt within them.

With reverence and humility, we pipers who have acknowledged a personal relationship with God may lead a congregation in praise by opening the worship service on a Sunday morning. Consider it to be wonderful invitation to be called upon to lead others in worshipping God in the spirit of holiness. Having been forgiven of everything in our lives that would hinder our perfect relationship with God, we can be confident that God will hear us, and people will be blessed.

A Christian Pipe Band

The International Fellowship of Christian Pipers and Drummers suggested to its members that it would be good to meet one another in various parts of the world, and gather as pipe bands here or there. This has not worked as proposed because distances are often too great, say for example, in Texas. Perhaps in Florida or Pennsylvania, where the membership is greatest, it has possibilities. Even a Christian piper and drummer in every pipe band in the world would be an asset, but the formation of actual Christian Pipe Bands, the world over, would be even better. Consider establishing a pipe band in your community, composed of Christians who will invite others to join their ranks. Outside members could strengthen the ranks of Christians, and ultimately become Christians themselves. Before the band can be equipped with uniforms, individuals would have to wear their own. That is the way we began in the Manitoba Pipers Association. Every member wore his or her own uniform. It was a colorful band and proficient, by having won the Western Canadian Championship several times. Eventually it became The Air Force Pipe Band because we understood the need to assure our permanence by attaching ourselves to a strong organization.

A church can provide many advantages. First and foremost, it is the stability of that organization itself. Its executive can provide encouragement and the financing that is needed to start, which the band will repay from engagements. The church executive and its people would be encouragers. Engagements such as Easter, Christmas, weddings, banquets and memorials would be anticipated. Within the church congregation are people associated with organizations such as Rotary and Kiwanis who would automatically think of their church’s pipe band when they needed one. The band would be an integral part of the church's activities. Undoubtedly, there would be a large reception hall in which to practice.

The difference between a successful pipe band and a mediocre one is in having a well established church or other organization as its foundation. Some pipe bands for example, that derive permanence from the establishment to which they are associated are, Simon Fraser University Pipe Band, The Cameron Highlanders, The Winnipeg Police Pipe Band and The Army and Navy Veterans Pipe Band in Winnipeg.

The band will need a president, secretary, treasurer, quartermaster and instructors. There definitely needs to be someone in charge of arranging engagements. The pipe major would be freed from other obligations to direct musical and marching techniques. The church executive has to be approached with the suggestion that there is a great opportunity for the church to have a well-practiced pipe band ready for all occasions, for there will be many times when a pipe band will be required. You must present the plan so well that the church executive will be interested. By advertising, you will find whether or not there are pipers and drummers in the area who would want to form a new Christian Pipe Band. One could be surprised how many may be interested, who would not undertake the project themselves, but would be excited to become founding members under someone else’s direction.

Often, I have thought that services that included a Christian Pipe Band to celebrate Christmas, Easter, Remembrance Day and church picnics would be especially welcome. It should have several well-defined characteristics:

• Its focus should be on worship, both in church and in public. Concerts and other performances should honor the name of Jesus, especially in celebrating His birth, death and resurrection. Performances at Highland Games and similar festivals would be fine, as long as they focussed on honoring God, which should be sufficient reason for members to play at the top of their ability.
• The group should honor piping traditions such as wearing Highland dress. Besides its well-practiced church music, the band should be able to play Scottish tunes “to the letter.” It should be adept at harmony, counter-melody and round-robin solos that will blend with the tunes played. Individual members could very well enter competitions; the band as well, if it did not limit the band’s repertoire and cause strain on younger players to meet the obligations.
• Church pipe bands would be formed first, then state, provincial, and regional bands. Then a national band would follow, with the ultimate goal of being able to assemble an international performance group, as specified in the by-laws of the IFCPD.
• As Christian Pipe Bands become familiar, they can serve the public as inspiration for other believing pipers and drummers to join or form their own church pipe band units.
• James Rankin a member of The International Fellowship of Christian Pipers and Drummers in Texas contributed great suggestions on how to develop a Christian Pipe Band, and Sara Workman in North Carolina also discussed the formation of Christian Pipe Bands being formed within one’s own church. We expect there will be considerable interest amongst Christian Pipers and Drummers with the result that they will approach their church leadership with a plan for organizing a Christian Pipe Band in their church. We wish them success and recommend that they will spend time to pray about their plan before presenting it to their church board members.

Much has to be done about it

The whole world is appalled at the atrocity committed in Newtown CT on Friday, December the 14th, 2012. Twenty children, six and seven years old, along with six adults, who were their teachers and psychologist, were killed by a young man who used a repeating high-powered rifle to carry out his insane plan. He killed himself as well. Children and their teachers must be protected against mentally deranged persons who satisfy their aggressions by invading schools and murdering students and teachers. People in public places need protection too.

We hear there must be effective laws governing the licensing of firearms, and that massacres must cease. We are told it is a complicated issue to resolve. Definitely so, and it involves not only the control of who owns a gun, but the way in which the minds of people are conditioned into accepting that carrying a gun is simply a way of life. Many people carry a gun, believing it is for their protection. At the slightest provocation, it is used to settle an argument. In Louis L’amour’s Wild West books, arguments were often settled when one or both opponents lay dead in the blood-drenched dusty street. It was an absolute waste of human life. Neither one would ever enjoy another sunny day or benefit others by his God-given talents. Children murdered in their classrooms will never have the satisfaction of graduating from public or high schools, universities or technical schools, developing their musical or sports talents, or of becoming successful in society. Their parents can never enjoy seeing them get married and have their own children.

We’ve experienced other atrocities in schools and have seen similar instances in public places. Not just the guns have to be controlled, which includes their manufacture, importation, sales and the gun clubs to which enthusiastic members belong, but it is necessary to condition the way of thinking of Americans and Canadians, and in fact of all people in our world. At one time, violence was condemned on television. Now it is rampant.

Gunfire is seen in advertisements for the most recent movie releases. It is to be considered an acceptable way of living, or might I change that to say it is accepted as a way to die…in gun blasts and a hail of bullets. Those movies are not born out of intelligent creativity, but from the expectation of moviemakers to make millions by exploiting the public’s insatiable desire to see the most shocking episodes to which they can be exposed. This kind of creativity is not born from intelligence, but from evil thinking. For those who attend movies or enjoy movies at home, there have to programs that are enlightening, to provide ways to spend evenings that will allow times that are unpolluted by violence, enabling everyone to think about life and eternity!

In other ways, young minds are conditioned to accept violence as a way of life and our attention must be given to eliminate those methods. Electronic games, designed to kill one’s opponent, are intriguing to receptive minds. Monster killers and robotic persons with various weapons are the toys designed so children can maneuver them to kill their opponent in one slash. Mind-conditioning methods designed to imagine killing one’s opponent have to be replaced with programs that will challenge minds in constructive ways. Teaching handiwork, music and sports would be an excellent substitute.

Stimulation of a person’s imagination to think of things that are edifying is more honorable than the excitement generated by fighting, or by teaching that violence is acceptable as a way of life. Psychologists remind us that erratic thinking is addictive, and it creates the desire for more of the same, but of increasing violence. A similar example is the feeding of one’s mind on pornography, which leads to the need for satisfaction in reality.

The whole aspect of training healthy minds and controlling gun laws doesn’t have to be as complicated as it seems. Everyone must resolve to develop a healthy mind and body, and appreciate all God has given us, and to help others who may not be as fortunate or who would appreciate a helping hand. All that would be better than to spend our time satisfying inappropriate desires and thinking how we should be protecting ourselves. We need to think positively, rather than negatively.

I too, in my piping career, have experienced playing for the funeral of a student who was shot in her classroom.  When my wife and I lived in Winnipeg, Canada, I was asked to pipe at such a memorial service.  A boy smuggled a long gun into the Technical School by hiding it in his pant leg. Innumerable families and friends of bereaved families suffer because society has not cracked down on the causes of atrocities. They will carry their sorrow for life.  We’ll be safer when people are conditioned to think differently about the causes of violence. The answer is not only to consider “guns and their control,” but it involves our complacency and how to rise above it.”

Please visit http://www.sandyhookpromise.org and make the Sandy Hook Promise today.  Promise to honor the 26 lives lost at Sandy Hook Elementary School.  Promise to do everything you can to encourage and support common sense solutions to make our communities safer from similar acts of violence.

Keith MacDonald, OD
The Church Piper

My faith in God

The Bible tells us that only a fool doesn’t believe in God and fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. Scripture advises a person to look around and observe all of creation, for who could have created the world and all that is in it but God, and it is here for us to appreciate and study. If one cannot believe in the Creator, he or she has no excuse for not believing, because God’s existence is apparent from the design of all things in nature.

The subject can be approached from the miracle of reproduction, that is, from the fertilization of an egg cell, which is the union of sperm and egg cells to form the fertilized egg of an embryo destined to grow into an individual, whether an animal or person. All the necessary constituents are present in the embryonic cell that will determine its development “after its own kind.” It is remarkable that parental characteristics are apparent in the individual born from the organized growth of one cell into millions of others. At various stages of growth, anatomical features are formed. Remarkable similarities between offspring and parents result.

Attention can be drawn to the size of a fertilized egg cell, which is smaller than a period on this page. In the cell are all the necessary components that decide the characteristics of a mature person or animal. Chemical constituents are carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, phosphorous, chlorine, potassium, iron, fluorine and iodine in the correct amounts. In addition, enzymes work in conjunction with complicated molecules to carry out reactions impossible in chemical laboratories. Tremendous magnification by electron microscopes enables study that reveals chromosomes containing genes, the keys that carry identifying characteristics of offspring. The wonder of it all is that new life is given even before the birth of a person or animal. Birth is so wonderful that it can be attributed only to God. Our world too, must be appreciated as the work of the Creator.

Just as we have peered through electronic microscopes to learn about the intricacies of reproduction, outer space can also be studied for its great wonders using magnificent telescopes. There, the distances can be so great that they are measured in light years rather than miles. The location of earth in this great outer space is so perfect, making it neither too hot nor cold, that it is ideal for sustaining life. All that is needed has been provided, including air, water, food and shelter, as well as minerals, gas and oil. One can observe the planets and marvel at the originality of their Creator. There are interesting things to observe, such as the rings that encircle Saturn, with its nine moons, one of which travels in the opposite direction to the others. Neptune’s two moons travel in opposite directions while Jupiter, with its twelve moons has eight that travel in one direction and four that travel in the opposite direction. One can assume that our Great and Wonderful Creator has a sense of humor. Why not include such originality, while creating the world and all that is in it?

We continue to elaborate upon Creation because it implies the Creator. Much can be learned about God by studying our world and its contents. It is not logical to disbelieve in God. More likely it is a person’s choice not to believe, because acknowledgement would require reflection upon one’s life and whether or not it is lived in accordance with God’s acceptability. If wrong choices have been made, ones that are sinful, then one would suddenly understand that he or she is separated from God and requires some way to be redeemed. What would be required to make things right? Enough good acts; would that be enough? More than anything, a sinful person needs a Personal Saviour. God provided Jesus, both God and man, willing to take upon Himself the sins of mankind that cause separation, enabling a person to enjoy communion with God, as if binding chains had been removed.

A person can continue to profess disbelief in God by being unobservant of the wonders of nature or reluctant to read. One who doesn’t read is no better off than another who cannot read at all. Scientific books reveal the wonders of God, while the Bible tells the story of God’s love, in that it is personal. One needs to read the Bible to know the love of God assures us that His Spirit is like having a Friend on whom to rely. My faith rests on what the Bible has revealed. I know that ignorant men crucified Jesus, the Son of God, on a cruel cross. Nevertheless, within a few days, two of his friends encountered Him as they walked along a country road. They least expected meeting Jesus because they had witnessed his death on the cross. They were so astounded by His living presence that it was as if their hearts burned within them. He has the power over death just as He has over life, which we observed earlier. I can imagine being one of those two men, in the presence of God. They had forgotten that He had already demonstrated His power over death and life, by having resurrected Lazarus from the grave as well as having restored the Centurion’s daughter to life.

Personal friends of Jesus have written for us to read in the Scripture. A person needs to read about what they experienced. Having been to Israel, even to have crossed the Sea of Galilee in a boat, caused the feeling in me that I had been there when Jesus’ disciples cried out to Him in the midst of a storm, “Master, do you not care if we drown?” His reply was “Ye of little faith, what does it take for you to believe?” Then, He calmed the storm.” They asked one another, “What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the waves obey Him?” The picture becomes even clearer to me when I play the hymn, “Master, the Tempest is Raging,” on the bagpipes. The song builds until it reaches its climax. Then one hears the Master calling, ”Peace, be still, peace, be still.”

I can tell you what Jesus means to me and who I know God to be, while you can determine for yourselves who God is. With some study and concentration, you will realize the great blessing to know God personally as you Friend, Jesus Christ.

Those who knew Jesus have written much about Him. His friend John wrote, “Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.” John 21: 25