... on worship

I didn't really mind the weather-related extra drive time getting to work today.  I just turned on the radio and listened to the local jazz station.  There seemed to be many others on the road with supposedly more important places and events to get to in a hurry.  Just glad they didn't hit me.

I've been converted.  The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley, and Blood, Sweat and Tears was the music of my youth.  I flirted with disco in the seventies, but everybody makes mistakes.  Once I found out about jazz, I learned the error of my ways, and will never go back. I listen to it and play it now whenever I can.  It's the music I hope to hear in heaven. I could go on (and have on a number of occasions) about the beauty and primal energy of its rhythms, intricate harmonies and sophisticated chord progressions; how it encompasses the passion of classical music, the soul of Gospel, the phrasing of poetry; and its roots in American culture.  Most people don't care.  That's okay.

What I like most about it is its "spirit," specifically the spirit and intent of improvisation.  Jazz musicians pick  an initial key and head in a certain direction.  They usually play the "head" (the melody that's written down) for the first round through the song, then take turns bending and twisting it in various ways. The key, time signature and syncopated beats may change, too.  No honest jazz soloist actually knows exactly all of what she or he is going to play ahead of time.  They just "feel" it and go with the flow.  That's what makes it so interesting and fun for some to listen to, and so frustrating for others.

There are times in life when it's good to precisely follow the rules and a prescribed plan ... when a pilot is flying the plan I'm on, for instance, or when a surgeon is operating on me  Although, being acquainted with a few medical professionals, I know its not always an exact science.  But most of life is just not that way.  We head a certain direction, but things happen ... sometimes unexpectedly.  Because of them, we may feel the blues or feel like dancing.  We may feel like praying or feel like complaining.  We may need to hear words of hope and comfort ourselves or offer them to someone else.  But the "spirit" is in and through all of it.

You might not be surprised that that's how I view church life, too, particularly worship.  Lots of people debate over the proper place of tradition and more contemporary elements within it. To me, it doesn't have to be one over against the other. It's both.  Think of tradition as the "head" and contemporary expression as improvisation. Again, there are those who will argue the point.  But that's my theory, and I'm sticking with it, unless I bend it and twist it around a little, of course.