FROM: Banbury, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom
ABOUT ME: Living the highs and lows of life in the adventurous pursuit of God Himself and of who I'm meant to be as the Bride of Christ.
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Wednesday, December 28, 2005,7:49 p.m.
Charlie Parker
I've been digging into the history of jazz music and the stories of the greats in the last couple of weeks, and in doing so, came across this great quote from Charlie "Yardbird" Parker - an alto saxophonist and arguably the greatest jazz musician in history to date:
"I kept thinking there's bound to be something else.... I could hear it sometimes, but I couldn't play it."
That got me thinking. Initially, I read into this quote probably exactly what was intended - that Bird Parker had such a creativity inside of him that he recognized that there was even more music yet to be discovered, even if he couldn't grasp it just yet. It's as if he knew it was there but just out of his reach.
The more I thought about that quote, the more I thought about how it is such a reflection of our spiritual journeys - every single one of them, from the person who has never given God much of a thought, to the one who has pursued Him their whole lives. There is bound to be something else - a glimpse will sometimes cross our paths, even if we can't quite see it or grasp what it is in that moment.
Now, I'm not saying we follow Bird's example. Charlie Parker might have known there was more out there, but he looked in the wrong places. Biographies tell us that because he had abused his body so badly with drugs and wild living, the medical practitioner who examined Parker at his death (age 34) estimated that he was 60 years old.
But what if Charlie Parker had recognized that what he was not quite glimpsing was all God's glory and grace and creativity? What if he recognized that all the incredible talent and influence he had been given in the jazz world was a gift from God alone? Might he have been able to play that illusive melody that remained just out of his reach? Perhaps. Or perhaps his life would have taken a completely different turn, depending on his level of surrender and on God's will for him.
I, too, keep thinking that there is something else, something just out of my reach. That there must be more knowledge of God and His character, more understanding of my role as a bond-servant, more of a clarity to who God is and who I am in relation to Him. But sometimes it, too, remains just out of my reach.
So I will keep searching until I can hear that melody and play it....
It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter. (Proverbs 25:2)
"I kept thinking there's bound to be something else.... I could hear it sometimes, but I couldn't play it."
That got me thinking. Initially, I read into this quote probably exactly what was intended - that Bird Parker had such a creativity inside of him that he recognized that there was even more music yet to be discovered, even if he couldn't grasp it just yet. It's as if he knew it was there but just out of his reach.
The more I thought about that quote, the more I thought about how it is such a reflection of our spiritual journeys - every single one of them, from the person who has never given God much of a thought, to the one who has pursued Him their whole lives. There is bound to be something else - a glimpse will sometimes cross our paths, even if we can't quite see it or grasp what it is in that moment.
Now, I'm not saying we follow Bird's example. Charlie Parker might have known there was more out there, but he looked in the wrong places. Biographies tell us that because he had abused his body so badly with drugs and wild living, the medical practitioner who examined Parker at his death (age 34) estimated that he was 60 years old.
But what if Charlie Parker had recognized that what he was not quite glimpsing was all God's glory and grace and creativity? What if he recognized that all the incredible talent and influence he had been given in the jazz world was a gift from God alone? Might he have been able to play that illusive melody that remained just out of his reach? Perhaps. Or perhaps his life would have taken a completely different turn, depending on his level of surrender and on God's will for him.
I, too, keep thinking that there is something else, something just out of my reach. That there must be more knowledge of God and His character, more understanding of my role as a bond-servant, more of a clarity to who God is and who I am in relation to Him. But sometimes it, too, remains just out of my reach.
So I will keep searching until I can hear that melody and play it....
It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter. (Proverbs 25:2)
