Jim Memmott | Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

Grace – and in at least one case “Amazing Grace” – abounds in these perilous, tense times.

In the age of the coronavirus, there are offers to pick up groceries or prescriptions for shut-in friends. There are reassuring phone calls and emails. Kindness, though socially distant, is everywhere.

And tonight, in a neighborhood in Bushnell’s Basin, the sounds of a bagpipe will be heard.

John Thompson will stand, as he has for days, at 9 p.m. and he’ll play just one song, “Amazing Grace.”

People will open their windows, or they will stand in their driveways, just to listen, just to let the music wash over them. It’s a moment of escape, a moment of comfort.

“It’s an easy way to socially distance,” John says. “The instrument carries far. I decided to pick one emotional song that resonates with people. I plan to keep playing till things return to normal.”

Provided photo

People know where John will be each night, thanks to a neighborhood page that’s private on Facebook. So sometimes residents of streets a little away from where the evening’s concert is held come by to listen.

John is 54 and works for a technology company. He and his wife, Tricia, have a son, Cole, who is 14.

John has played a guitar for a long time, but he only took up the bagpipes a couple years ago. “It was a bucket list thing,” he says.

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Now he’s the band manager for the Rochester Scottish Pipes and Drums, which was set to play in the city’s St. Patrick’s Day parade, an event the organization loves.

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Speaking of love. John allows that many people either love or hate the bagpipes. (He says Tricia “tolerates” the bagpipes, which I suspect is not a ringing endorsement on her behalf.)

There’s no question that the neighborhood people – whether or not bagpipes are their thing – appreciate John’s mix of serenade and lullaby.

If they sing along, they probably find special comfort in the song’s third stanza.

It begins: “Through many dangers, toils and snares/We have already come.”

It moves on to a triumphant promise that echoes our hopes: “'Twas grace that brought us safe thus far/And grace will lead us home/And grace will lead us home.”