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A Message from Heather Geest

Soaring Notes, Melancholic Expressions

Have you ever heard of a guy named Bix Beiderbecke? Well, I hadn’t until I moved here. I imagined him to be quite the runner, since everyone was getting ready for the big race. When I discovered our church has a big Jazz Sunday to complement Bix Weekend, things got a little clearer. This is the first church I have been in that has a jazz band playing the liturgy and leading the people in joyful song.

I imagine Bix’s parents would roll over in their graves if they knew jazz music was being played in the church. They had a hard time accepting their son’s choice of music. He fell in love on the banks of the Mississippi listening to the music from the riverboats. At a young age he was an accomplished pianist, although he is most known for his cornet. He never had any formal training. He preferred playing by ear; what he felt and experienced in life he would put to notes on his horn. His parents didn’t want to listen. Even at the peak of his career, Bix would send home records, they were left unopened and unheard. This was devastating. Putting your heart in music is always a vulnerable activity.

Jazz musicians know how to express themselves like the biblical psalmist. The sheer variety of notes, syncopation, and silence combine to make unexpected musical twists and turns. Repeated strains and elements of surprise awaken and delight listeners. The music creates moods that transport people to new places, covering the whole topography of the human existence. Soaring notes of joyful praise and jubilation are matched by melancholic expressions of sadness and despair. The result is a melodic score that represents the fullness of life experiences. What was once left unspoken, unfelt, or maybe even off-limits is freely expressed within the framework of jazz.

This same freedom rings true in the poetry of the psalms. The words expressed within each prayer push and pull at the edges of comfort zones. They drag us into the depths of reality. Each psalm reaches into the unknown for whatever we sense deep within us will provide wholeness, hope, or even salvation. The psalmist knows there is more to living than just surviving; there is a God who is in an intimate relationship with us, speaking words of grace, answering all prayers with truth. The psalmist’s whole existence is tangled within the web of God’s love.

There is freedom in knowing, trusting, and living in the assurance of God’s faithfulness and promises. There are no words or notes off-limits. God answers. God responds to all the music of our hearts. There is nothing too big or small to share with God. The whole spectrum of the spiritually-charged life is expressed. Cries of the soul, songs of surrender, and praises of thanks are all heaped upon the lap of God through psalm prayers.

The jazz music of Bix Weekend is a wonderful expression of our community’s ongoing relationship with a living God. It’s something that you need to experience first-hand to understand. In a new and fresh way, it captures the experience of breathing God’s spirit anew. Our growing community of faith celebrates God’s unfolding songs every Sunday. We have a God who listens to the music of our souls. A God who loves to hear our songs no matter what the notes might be.

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