I once attended a Sunday School program that had a song that began:"You are a Promise, you are a Possibility, You are a Promise, With a capital ‘P’, You are a great, big bundle of Potentiality." Granted, it was not particularly great music or great writing, but the kids performing believed that message at that moment in time, so it seemed quite powerful. I thought of that little song-bite last night as I sat at our younger son’s final orchestra concert for this year.The concert featured the seniors playing ensembles and solos accompanied by the students who still have a few years before heading off into the world.

Many of these students began playing an instrument in fourth grade. Some have studied privately, others  have relied on the public school music program to mold their taste, their talent, their enthusiasm into something that is bigger than their individual gifts or hard work. All this was done under the guidance and inspiration of a fabulous teacher……someone who has given his life to recognizing and nurturing the promise,possibility and potential of regular, ordinary children who happened to want to play an instrument.

A disclaimer: I have taught elementary and middle school music so I am biased. I believe the act of bringing people together to make music, whether instrumental or vocal, teaches us life lessons that go far beyond the music created. We learn to listen, to compromise, to be the melody and the harmony, to be silent and rest, to rely on others and to be a leader. Above all, there are the lessons of what can happen through practice, perseverance and the pursuit of beauty.

I thought of all that last night as I listened to the finale of these young people’s high school music career. As adoring parents took pictures and the cable TV station filmed, as each one stepped forward to take their final bow, my eyes also fell upon their director. Seeing his visible pride and love of these students, I thought of the movie "Mr. Holland’s Opus". In this film, Mr. Holland works diligently throughout his life composing a symphony, a work he sandwiches between the duties of teaching high school music. In the end he learns that his symphony was really his students….those lives he touched, changed, shaped….those in which he had helped grow their promise, possibility, potential.

Each day in classrooms across this country, teachers see the opus of their lives come to fruition. Symphonies are composed, novels are written, mathematical equations are developed,science experiments are accomplished. Teachers see this,not always through the curriculum they teach, but through the promise,possibility and potential of the young people who have come into their lives.

There is the bumper sticker that says: If you are reading this, thank a teacher. As the school year draws to a close once more, young people will walk into the world, our world. My prayer is that each of them will have known a teacher who has helped them see the promise they bring, the possibility in their life, the potential to be a part of the unfolding of the world in this day.

And to Mr. Schlueter……..applause and deep gratitude.

Have a wonderful weekend………………