EDITORIAL: A happy hymn for Easter Sunday

Happy Easter.

If there’s one day each year to rekindle hope in mankind, in this life and beyond, today is it.

Christians unite in the miracle of Jesus Christ’s resurrection. Perhaps this is also the day that more of us will rise from the dormancy and occasional malignancy with which we engage our fellow man.

While many voices tell you how terrible things are or how impending disaster lurks just around the corner, hear them. And then laugh a joyful laugh and find ways to flip that jaundiced view. 

Like the Idaho Vandals band did.

OK, that transition sentence was probably not what you were expecting, but we offer the University of Idaho’s recent altruistic performances as simple yet profound examples of how far a helping hand can go.

Last weekend, during the first two rounds of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, Yale’s school band was unable to make the trip from New Haven, Conn., to Spokane. It was spring break and besides, almost everyone assumed the Yale Bulldogs would be quickly cur-tailed by the heavily favored Auburn Tigers. 

You know, one and done; hardly worth flying all that way for one game.

But Yale’s basketball squad had other ideas, winning a thriller in that opening game. So too did members of the Idaho Vandals Marching Band who filled in for their absent musically inclined brethren. 

The UI “Van-Dogs” performed Friday and Sunday, the latter game bringing Yale’s season to an end when the Bulldogs fell to San Diego State. But not for lack of support from the talented UI musical corps who learned Yale’s fight song the morning of the first game.

Simple but profound? 

“We want to help out another university. We want to help out another band,” said Spencer Martin, director of sports bands at Idaho.

The Van-Dogs’ enthusiastic substitution became a viral sensation, helping at least somewhat offset the regrettable, disgusting racial incident in Coeur d'Alene that hurt the entire state. Few things inspire us more than authentic acts of kindness, and no doubt Idahoans of all athletic loyalties took particular pride in the reverberating goodwill generated by the Van-Dogs. 

Now, nobody’s suggesting that the University of Idaho band’s benevolent contributions translate to mankind’s salvation. Leave that to higher authorities.

But for those hungry for hope in a world that sometimes seems hopeless, a little bit of sweet music can go a long, long way.