Thanks Elgar

Once again, it is that glorious time of year when soon, the bells of freedom ring from the mountain tops for every warm-blooded American child… and teacher! And as the graduation season approaches… I started wondering… What is with that Pomp and Circumstance song!? At every graduation across the country that song will be played. Don’t get me wrong… I like it, but why? And what does Pomp and Circumstance mean anyway? So I did a little research to find out. The British composer Edward Elgar wrote it in 1901. It actually has words! The title comes from a quote of Shakespeare’s Othello.
Farewell the neighing steed and the shrill trump,
The spirit-stirring drum, the ear-piercing fife,
The royal banner, and all quality,
Pride, pomp, and circumstance of glorious war!

The song came to be associated with graduations when it was played shortly after Elgar received an honorary degree from Yale in 1905. Other colleges adopted it after that, and by the 1920’s it was a nationwide grad hit! Supposedly “The tune manages to sound triumphant, but with an underlying quality of nostalgia, making it perfectly suited to a commencement that marks the beginning of one stage of life, but the end of another.“

Of recent, we have had a few kids in our youth group experience this beginning and end. In a way we are getting Hans Brue back. He has just recently graduated from Hillcrest Lutheran Academy in Fergus Falls. His plans for next year are to attend Normandale Community College. We will be losing Rebecca Leivestad. She will be graduating from Eden Prairie High School and plans on attending Bethel College next year. In a way we lost Rebecca Schubert last year. She skipped her senior year to get a jump on college. She just finished her first year at Bethel College. It has been so much fun watching these guys grow up. They have been such a blessing to our group. I ask that we as a church would pray for them - that they continue to serve the Lord with all their hearts wherever their paths take them. And to you, Hans and Rebeccas, let the pomp and circumstance commence!