Keeping the Beat with Jesus!

“There it goes again!” I lay on my back ready for a good night’s sleep, and my heart began to race… not just a few seconds but for almost a whole minute. What was happening? There must be something I’m putting or not putting in my body that’s triggering this. Perhaps caffeine? In that tiny, bite-sized candy bar? I’d already given up on colas and coffee in the past for other health reasons, but this was something I REALLY liked: Chocolate! Now, more than twenty years later, my heart rhythm keeps its steady beat, ever since I took that last bite.

I was introduced to the “drum circle” a few years ago. Each of us had a different kind of drum. One person, the leader, started off with a simple beat that set the tempo. Then the rest of us, one at a time, started adding a new rhythm that complemented the beat until the room was filled with pulsing energy. And then one by one we dropped out until the final round was the leader’s simple, strong rhythm.

Drum lines are becoming ever more popular in marching bands. On game day there will even be “battles” between the two schools’ drummers. Who can be the most creative? Who can take rhythm to ridiculous levels? I can’t imagine the sound all of those drummers beginning to learn their craft in basements and garages across the country!

"Bring in the Funk, Bring in the Noise" is an entire Broadway show dedicated to rhythm. We really enjoyed tapping our feet and bouncing in our seats to the beat of those talented dancers and drummers.

I have a good friend who drums in a band. I know most drummers consider themselves the heart of their group… setting the tempo, keeping everyone else in line, drawing them back to the rhythm when they stretch the limits with their improvisations.

I know when I’m “out of sync”… out of rhythm. My body doesn’t behave itself. My mood is sullen. My relationships are flat. What I’m missing is what some people refer to as the “Rhythm of Life.” There’s even a song about it:

            “For the rhythm of life is a powerful beat

            Puts a tingle in your fingers and a tingle in your feet

            Rhythm on the inside rhythm in the street

            And the rhythm of life is a powerful beat.”

The call, the beat, is powerful! It’s almost impossible to resist the summons to “Get into the rhythm!”

I think of my rhythms in life. Sometimes I’m improvising just to keep the beat going. Sometimes, like my heart on caffeine, I’m racing out of control with no recognizable beat. Sometimes my rhythm mixes with others… with both good and bad results. Sometimes it’s just me… or it seems like it’s just me... drumming away…

But then I hear that steady Source that brings me back to the center… the Original Beat that I can trust will make sense out of everything else. The “I am with you always” Rhythm that brings me back to my Lord and Savior Jesus… the Central Beat that truly sustains everything.

Including this one little drummer. Me!

And oh the joy that once again fills my life's rhythm! Oh the joy that fills my soul! 

Leaving my guilt at the cross,

Christine