Transcendent joy

Piping and drumming, like life in general, can get the best and worst of us. Too often, we rush to get things done, to push quickly to achieve objectives that, in the grand scheme of things, don’t much matter.

I’m not religious, but I respect those who look to religion for spiritual well-being, community, and faith. I believe that being faithful, whether to an idea, a promise, or a person, is one of the most admirable and rewarding qualities a human can have.

The holidays and New Year are, at least for me – and perhaps for many of you, too – a time for reflecting on not only the previous 12 months but life in general. The longer one lives, the broader the reflection.

One never knows when the next epiphany will pick you up and send you to another higher, spiritual place.

Of course, there are the “life moments “: marriage, births, birthdays, and the passing of loved ones. But I think now of a few completely unexpected moments that moved me joyfully, which I would not categorize as life moments but as more serendipitous, spine-shivering happenings that I would call spiritual.

My first major league baseball game. After experiencing baseball only on a little black-and-white TV, at age seven, walking through the tunnel to a brilliant green field at Busch Stadium made me dizzy. I didn’t know what it was, but I was hooked for good.

Walking into the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona. If Antoni Gaudi’s inspiration was the awesomeness of nature to give those congregated in his church a closer spiritual experience, he succeeded. The place is breathtaking, exceeding every lofty expectation.

The Grand Canyon. I had seen so many pictures of the Grand Canyon that I felt I had already seen it. But actually visiting the place and experiencing its depth, constantly changing vibrancy, expanse, and awesome scale explains why Native Americans held the Grand Canyon in reverence for thousands of years.

The 78th Fraser Highlanders’ medley at Maxville 1988. This was the first time my spirit soared mid-performance in my piping life. Coming off the park, other players said they felt the same way, agreeing it was like an out-of-body experience. Music can transport the spirit. Listening to the recordings now, it wouldn’t win a Grade 2 contest, but, at the time, the medley’s music and energy took me to a higher place.

Field Marshal Montgomery’s drones sometime in the 2010s. I’m not sure of the year, but it was at the World’s in the last decade or so. The band’s perfectly tuned and steady sound was truly transcendent, made more so because I knew just how difficult it is to achieve that quality with 24 or so pipers. Nothing has come close for me since.

The heather and the honeybees on Canna. The Inner Hebridean island is remote and magical but resting on a long hike on a pristine warm afternoon at the edge of a natural crater festooned with bright blooming heather, swarming with bees, the scent of floral honey everywhere made an unforgettable epiphany.

There are more moments, to be sure – Spirit of Scotland 2008, Donald MacPherson, a few piobaireachd practice sessions. One never knows when the next epiphany will pick you up and send you to another higher, spiritual place. When such uplifting bliss occurs, the moment will be forever locked in memory, indescribably distinct, impossible to recreate.

May your 2025 be rich with astonishing, transcendent joy.

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