Music can build more bridges than weapons

August 15, 2014
The Washington Times-Herald
Music can build more bridges than weapons

Editor:
Kyle Gregory, our son, had the best of it at I.U., having studied jazz and trumpet under legendary David Baker and Dominic Spera. He went on to get a doctorate in jazz performance. When he was a kid we reminded Kyle that it’s a big world out there and he should go for it. Evidently, he took this to heart. Almost 50 years later, he’s still “going for it.”

He had this idea that jazz music could be a channel for his staunch Christian faith. He became a jazz playing Navigator missionary — if you can believe that combination. He has become quite a world traveler as he pursues his two passions. A week or so ago he calls: “Bet you can’t guess where I’m bound for next?” Me: “Haven’t a clue, where?” “Lebanon,” he replies. Me: “Lebanon, Indiana? Big deal.” Kyle: “No, Lebanon, Middle East.” Me: “Gulp.” Remember? Beirut, Lebanon, back in the 1980s was the scene of a terrorist attack that took out a U.S. Marine barracks. Over 200 marines died.

Here’s the email that we got from Kyle on Aug. 2: “I am writing to you from Beirut, Lebanon. I am here to teach in the first summer jazz camp in the Middle East. Importing jazz is a much better long-term investment than weapons, in my humble opinion.

Last night I got off the plane and was picked up by a new friend, Arek (a friend of a friend) who picked me up at the airport and carted me off up into the lovely hills above the city. Turns out he had a little gig playing some romantic jazz on the alto sax for a friend of his who had arranged to surprise his girlfriend with a candlelit path leading to a wooden deck strewn with rose petals, and most important of all — a surprise marriage proposal.

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