Being “in the pocket”, in the “sweet spot” of musical composition may not be the ultimate in popularity but the look on the faces of jazz greats tells a story of completion and satisfaction and oneness, and a temporary lack of stress that signifies cool, which implies peace and mimics fulfillment. The harmoniously blended tones of improvisation seemingly represent a model of cooperative interaction, forcing dissimilars and opposites to merge into random but beautiful conformity.
Wisdom offers a life comparison; a religion in which the rhythms become the doctrine and life’s imperfections pose questions about the composer. Shouldn’t life be as smooth as jazz? Shouldn’t Christianity?
But jazz is jazz and Christianity is honey in a can labeled “beans”. It’s the face of the angry politician whose cookie jar-stained hand wields the “old rugged cross” while his pointing finger chastises those he’s stolen from. It’s the snarky Monday morning receptionist voice of a gracious Sunday school teacher. It’s the justification of a closed wallet; the everyday crass conversation of congregational braggers; the sad, joy-less lives of the saved.
Oh but the sweet spot is truly a sweet spot; a suite spot that lasts as long as humility pays the rent. In other words that’s temporary too but leaves the half-full, fully filled with fuel until the next refill; a paradox of perfection designed for the imperfect.
Free but at a price; given but never owned.
Maybe Jesus gave us jazz as a parallel.
The synchronized coolness of repetition and rehearsal inhibits faults and imperfection.
And yet the inevitable errant note is repeatedly covered in musical forgiveness.
The repetition making the fault increasingly less likely, and there, the parallel ends.
There is no smooth, no cool. Only disturbances of personal peace followed by the peace that surpasses understanding. There’s building and re-building; a life permanently under construction. And from the outside looking in, from a human perspective one could assume that if God could make random musical notation work so harmoniously, following Him could have been made to work along the same parallel.
But jazz is jazz and it’s just cool but Christianity is God’s absolute best, often badly represented.
Christians don’t own the sun, we try to stand in the light of the Son and live in His reflection
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