The Butterly Effect

Today, as I've been making final preparations for the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians Region 2 biennial conference, the butterly effect has been coming to my mind. According to Wikipedia, the butterfly effect is something like this: The way that a butterfly flaps its wings could alter the air around it, and then the atmosphere, in such a manner that the path of a tornado could be altered. That seems a litte far-fetched to me but here is something that doesn't. The more we take the time to learn from each other, and the more we take time to teach each other, we alter the world in which we live.

It's not hard to see how this would happen at a music conference. A conferee may go home with one idea on improving congregational hymn singing that takes such hold in her home church that it changes that community's singing culture forever! A singer in her children's choir grows up to become a church music director and teaches the same method in his churches for years.

A vocalist might hear something about vocation that changes the way he sees his singing completely. Instead of pure art or entertainment, it becomes true worship that draws others in to a closer relationship with God.

You can see where I'm going with this. We are all students and we are all teachers. We all have the potential to be life altering butterflies.

Maybe someday I'll write about how this could have an adverse effect, but for now, I'm excited about what I will learn in the next few days that will change the way I think and work. No matter what your profession is, take time to be a student and a teacher.