What's a jazz-shaped faith? (review p2)

There are three fundamentals to jazz and thus a jazz shaped faith.

• Syncopation:  Accenting the offbeat.  This is what allows jazz to swing and when applied to prayer or bible study it brings to light, not hidden meaning but meaning that is often missed.
• Improvisation:  When we are so familiar with the basic groove of God's word and the way of Christ we are in a position to experiment and play a little.  Improvisation is the result of living in community with other practicing Christians who allow us the grace and encouragement to find our own voice..
• Call and Response:  The essence of a jazz-shaped faith is listening.  God calls to his creation on the first page of scripture and continued to call to Adam and Eve as they hid in shame.  When we develop our ear for the voice of God and the needs of others we place ourselves in a position to respond by dawning the towel and basin and serving others as Christ did.

These concepts can be applied to the various aspects of our faith.  For the foreseeable future I'm going to be syncopating, improvising and responding to the call of a love supreme.  That is, I'll be blogging often about the cross of Christ from a jazz-shaped perspective.

Comments

[Tyler]

I just came across this quote the other day and obviously thought of you. Thanks for initiating me into a jazz-shaped faith.

"The biblical story that we have been exploring...is not safe. We cannot read this story without being caught up in its drama. We cannot claim to have genuinely understood the Bible without taking the risk of IMPROVISATION."

--- J. Richard Middleton & Brian Walsh, Truth is Stranger Than It Used to Be.

[jazztheologian]

Tyler,
Always good to hear from you...I like the quote.
robert