January 25, 2008

  • Low Bass Tones

    Low bass tones and rhythms are hard to really listen to, but they drive the music and give it the depth that makes decent melodies into the tunes you rock out to.  Kind of how salt ties everything together and brings out deeper flavors in cooking.  Kind of how the word and Spirit of God have been quietly pulsing through my life, leading me to this point and steering me toward the path I must go. 

    And when the music and lyrics break, the bass tones come out in force to usher in the chorus or a refrain, and it can change the entire vibe of the song, elevating it to new heights.  But the bass tones always there, tempering the music as the main beat or skeleton, but when it's highlighted in a rift you know something big is coming, something that'll make your heart beat louder with the coming musical notes and send blood rushing through your body.  So it is and has been with this word and spirit in me, especially during hard times when my faith and patience are tested.  When my morning is cloudy, these bass tones crescendo in the noontime and set my path straight for the clear afternoon.  Evening becomes quieter but the battle is still on, and though I am vigilant all night, with morning comes new tasks to face. 

    I'm sure I'm not making much sense right now, and even as I write, I write slowly and my words are dense.  It's the awareness of one day, one moment, as part of a grand scheme with each step being not a shortsighted move but, in its own sense, further embedded resolve and fortitude.  In my mind, I'm not looking at things one day at a time, but I'm taking it a day at a time because my journey is long and the road is rife with struggle. 

    But now is the time of God's power.  When I was young God allowed me to be foolish, falter, not care, and go my own way.  But what He wants now is a commitment.  And He signaled that my time had come by giving me conviction to do His will, to commit to what is good and right and holy and eternal.  And He waited until I was ready to take that first wobbly step.  He allows us to make that first whimpering cry to Him, that first stirring of our faith.  And then with ecstatic joy He lifts up and galvanizes us for the purpose for which He has called us, placing us before the onslaught of answers and open doors that have been inundated from our immature "self-searching". 

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    "The prodigal's resolution, 'I will arise and go to my father,' is the essence of wisdom.  It is the first step toward competency in mental, spiritual, or material welfare.  A journey of a thousand leagues is begun with the first step; it cannot be avoided or substituted or overlooked, and that first step must be voluntary."
        --- Harry Moyle Tippett, My Lord and I: Daily Meditations On Christ Our Great Exemplar