The Rhythms of Love and Grace

Back to the Senate Judiciary’s display of optimism and negativism during Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation hearings. If I were describing it in musical terms, I’d speak to rhythm and tempos. Lots of crescendos (increasing in volume and speed) and lots of staccatos (where each sound is short and disconnected – like the sound of a machine gun). And, then there are lots of slower, rhythmic decrescendos (decreasing in volume and speed). I amused myself as I watched more of the hearings yesterday and thinking along these lines. I segue to the slow, rhythmic movements of my mother-in-law. Her days are slow and repetitive. Sleeps. Wakes Up. Gets dressed. Eats breakfast. Walks up and down the hall six times. Sits in her chair. Has her morning devotion, etc. Not many changes to her day. With those routines, she has a pacemaker that keeps her heart rhythm steady and regular. The doctors say that her pacemaker is what is keeping her alive. Well, we know that God is keeping her alive until her appointed time to go to heaven, but in the meantime, if her pacemaker is slightly out of rhythm, she knows it. She feels weak and dizzy. Most importantly, God wants us to get in sync with His rhythms -- those strong, regular, repeated patterns of love, kindness, forgiveness, tenderness, gentleness, giving, honoring, and respecting. I sincerely want to live on His side of the heavenly music that He makes -- because when we are in tune with Him, we'll recognize all those folks, situations and circumstances that cause us to get out of rhythm with Him. We should resist that music with everything that's in us. We may even need to turn off the TV or resist our newsfeed on our phones. Like that pacemaker that keeps Mom’s heart ticking steady and evenly paced, God desires to be our pace-maker and the conductor of our daily symphony. As long as we keep our eyes focused on Him – no matter if the trombones and the trumpets go off in a tangent – He’ll reel us all back into His perfect rhythm of love and grace. Since God is the source of music, He longs for us to get in sync with His rhythm that lives and breathes His character. His rhythms come with a solution to the crescendos and the staccatos that disturb our peace. The little shepherd boy, David, found out early on -- the great Shepherd, with Whom he never was in want. There's something to be said for spending time with God in green pastures with a flock of sheep to get in soul and heart sync with God. And then, when King Saul was seized with anguish and mental agitation, David came to him and produced on his harp the melodious and restful refrains that calmed the heart of the king. The dark thoughts that haunted Saul vanished, and his agitation left him.​—1 Samuel 16:16. So with this blog -- I'm speaking to all of us to get into that rhythmic music of God's grace and love. Let’s let Him lead our coming and going in harmony with Him.