Robert Gelinas Finding The Groove Composing A Jazz-Shaped Faith
Robert Gelinas Finding The Groove Composing A Jazz-Shaped Faith
Robert Gelinas Finding The Groove Composing A Jazz-Shaped Faith
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08 09 10 11 12 13 • 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For Barbara, my beloved.
contents
3 Key Notes 29
4 Creative Tension 41
5 Life in Concert 83
9 So What 189
Acknowledgments 205
Notes 209
Ralph Ellison
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CHAPTER 1
13
IT was present
he had IT
we wept because of IT
For almost two decades now, I have wondered what
it is about this thing called jazz that brings so many
kinds of people together. Oftentimes I listen to a saxo
phonist solo, and I can’t help but think that there’s
something in this for me. When I see an eclectic en
semble allowing for fresh takes on old standards, or as I
look around the sometimes smoke-filled room and see
that I am sitting with all hues of skin, I sense that there
is something in this for the body of Christ.
As followers of Christ I think that we have some
thing to learn from jazz. For as I watch the way Jesus
interacted with people, healing one blind man with a
word and using saliva on another, I see him improvis
ing. As I ponder how he taught, drawing on old themes
in fresh ways, I see IT in Jesus. I see Jesus in IT.
* * *
A jazz-shaped faith is worth pursuing because it bal
ances freedom with boundaries, the individual with
the group, and traditions with the pursuit of what
might be. I have discovered in jazz a way of thinking,
living, communicating — a way of being . . . a groove.
Not a rut, but rather a set of factors that converge,
creating a place to settle in and space to be.
setting the stage 15
21
American I have a
visceral connection with jazz. It speaks to me. I can
not listen to Louis Armstrong, Nina Simone, or Miles
Davis without simultaneously rehearsing in my mind
the history that made jazz not only possible but nec
essary. As someone who spent much of my early life
struggling with identity, trying to figure out what it
26 finding the groove
CHAPTER 3
key notes
29
Or does it explode?5
creative tension
41
Talkin’ ’Trane
When John Coltrane took up the saxophone in his
midteens, he showed an immediate aptitude for im
provisation. As his skills improved, the sheer speed at
which he played his instrument was enough to draw
creative tension 43
interconnected;
Describing God
What words do you use to describe God? Many come
to mind:
awesome
omnipotent
omniscient
loving
merciful
kind
big
good
wise
Surprisingly, one of the first things that God re
vealed about himself rarely makes our top five: God
is creative — the most creative being in the universe!
The Bible begins with God creating.2 Imagine the
sound of God’s voice when he spoke — and all that is
48 finding the groove
take them for what they are — the words of the most
creative being in the universe.
As one who has spent much time in my study of
the Scriptures trying to resolve anything that seems
contradictory, this has been refreshing. I used to see
two passages that might disagree and then work hard
to prove why they are just “seeming” or “apparent” con
tradictions. On the one hand, this approach gives us a
Bible we can believe in; on the other hand, we must
be careful not to remove the reasons to believe in the
God it proclaims. It is fundamental to have a Scripture
that can be defended and shown to be the word of
God. However, there is also something to be gained by
wrestling with it and with the God it presents.
Lucas describes an ancient way of interpreting the
Bible, one that he argues Jesus used. It’s called “halakic
reasoning.” Simply put, it’s holding both strands of a
paradox in tension and balance, knowing that with
God both sides must be true. It’s the process of firmly
grabbing both ideas in paradox and then merging the
two into a greater understanding of the character
and nature of God. What the ancient Hebrews called
“halakic,” we call jazz!
This kind of thinking requires that we grip com
peting truths equally and see where they take us. We
can do this, for while the Bible contains “no real con
tradictions,” it does contain plenty of paradoxes. The
creative tension 61
Tertium Quid
The woman had been “caught in adultery.”13 The re
ligious leaders bring her to Jesus in all of her shame,
publicly exposing her sin as they fire their accusation:
“Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adul
tery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such
women.” (And men, I might add!)
“Now what do you say?” they ask Jesus, trying to
trap him. They think they have him impaled on the
horns of a dilemma, but Jesus knows what to do with
tension.
He adds to the mystery of the moment by bending
down and writing in the sand. He then embraces the
paradox and turns the tension into creativity: “If any
one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw
a stone at her.”
These two opposing truths provided a whole new
option for those present that day — a third way (in
Latin, tertium quid), a new, creative way. This happens
when we move beyond either/or to both/and. This is
62 finding the groove
A Love Supreme
Let’s talk some more ’Trane. John Coltrane eventually
had to come to terms with the paradox of his life. He
could play anything except the one thing he wanted
to play most: the sound of God that he heard in 1957.
After years of searching he embraced this tension and
allowed it to fuel creativity. In 1964, seven years after
he had heard the sound, he recorded his signature
album, A Love Supreme. It is a case study in spiritual
creativity. What do you do when you have experienced
God and yearn to experience him again? Coltrane de
veloped his own set of spiritual stages on this album,
as each song is meant to represent a season of his soul.
Coltrane’s stations were acknowledgment, resolution,
pursuance, and psalm.
Coltrane set a spiritual goal: to become a psalm.
Working backward from that end, he thought through
the stages necessary to achieve this goal. Ultimately,
68 finding the groove
Con-Tension
Take a moment to read what Coltrane wrote on the
original liner notes to A Love Supreme:
Dear Listener:
PRAISE IS DUE.
Jazz-Shaped Evangelism
Syncopation
I believe that everyone has a God-given creative
tension in his or her life. That is, there is paradox in
your life and mine, and it might be the very thing that
God wants to use to reveal himself. There is a reason
we identify with Paul as he honestly speaks of the war
within — the good we want to do but don’t do, and the
bad we find ourselves doing even though we don’t want
to.24 We love Peter for the same reasons. We too have
told Jesus that we will die for him, only to fail miser
ably within hours.25 Every plumber has a leaky faucet,
and every mechanic has a spark plug that needs to be
changed. As we listen to the lives of the unbelievers
whom God has placed in our life, we need to listen
for the offbeats. Sometimes it’s the beautiful woman
who acts so ugly or the strong man who isn’t strong
enough to handle his anger. Once we see the seem
ing contradictions and impossible possibilities, then we
hold on to them and ask Jesus to reveal to us — by his
Spirit — the third way.
Remember how fraught with paradox Peter was? “I
will lay down my life for you,” he promises Jesus, and
then he seeks to back up his words with actions as he un
sheathes his sword in the garden.26 Yet, within hours, he
has proceeded to cowardly disown Jesus three times.
creative tension 73
Improvisation
It is here that we take the risk of composing in the
moment. We allow our time in God’s Word to con
nect with what he has been doing in a person’s life,
and perhaps, by God’s grace, the salvific paradigm will
become evident.
74 finding the groove
Call-and-Response
Tell me about the first time you experienced the presence of
God? What if that question was how we began a con
versation with an unbeliever? I believe that Coltrane
had an encounter with God. All too often we think
it is our job to get people in a place where they can
call on God, but what if God has already called them?
Then our role in someone’s life is to help them respond
creative tension 75
Jazz-Shaped Spirituality
We need basic spiritual disciplines such as participat
ing regularly in corporate worship and Bible reading,
creative tension 77
presenting itself?
Our oldest child is Selah. That’s the little word you see
sprinkled throughout the book of Psalms. Some say it
means “to pause and reflect.” The Psalter was the book
of worship for Israel — the hymnal, so to speak. When
we named her, Barbara’s and my prayerful hope was that
Selah would always be found in the midst of worship.
How do I spend time with God and Selah? When I look
into her eyes she reminds me that any moment is a mo
creative tension 79
CHAPTER 5
life in concert
83
King’s Nightmare
Most people know of the dream of Martin Luther King
Jr., but few know of his nightmare. In 1963, King stood
in the shadow of the statue of the man who authored
the Emancipation Proclamation and called the nation
“to live out the true meaning of its creed.” With won
drous words and compelling cadence, he delivered one
of the greatest sermons of all time. He called Ameri
cans to be American and Christians to be Christian.
Few remained uninspired by a vision for what life
could and should be.
Yet only four years later, Martin Luther King Jr.
spoke of the same dream in very different and disturb
ing terms. On Christmas Eve 1967, before his home
life in concert 85
life in concert 87
E Pluribus Unum
E pluribus unum — out of many, one. This motto rep
resents the American desire to be a society in which
people from the whole world can come and partici
pate. At first, it only referred to the original thirteen
colonies, but over time we have come to recognize that
the United States is a nation created from the nations.
Community in America begins with understanding
that we are many — native and immigrant, French, Ital
ian, German, Spanish, and so on — and while the story
of how we came to be on these shores is different, we
can be one. E pluribus unum appears on the Great Seal
of the United States and on much of our money, and
it represents our quest and question when it comes to
community in our culture.
It’s a laudable goal, but how do you make many
into one? The answer depends on your metaphor. The
image we have in our mind for community is vital,
not just for our country, but for church as well, for
94 finding the groove
and vice versa. A good attempt, but it’s more about the
many than the one.
We must be careful not to fall into the pitfalls of
either of these metaphors while at the same time rec
ognizing that e pluribus unum is compatible with the
gospel’s call to community. While both metaphors
have strengths, the cost of their weakness is too high.
We desperately need a new way of thinking about com
munity in America. A fresh paradigm that will help
bring about unity among churches and within local
bodies of believers. A way of being “I” and “we” — so
we don’t reduce our definition of community to “being
in a small group.” What is community? Is it having
significant relationships with others? Is it the people
who live in your same geographic space? I believe it’s
all that and so much more.
Becoming Pentecostal
At Babel, one became many. At Pentecost, many be
came one.
How do you make one out of many? That has been
the question for the church since the first century. I
remember hearing British author and former pastor
Roy Clements say that all human forms of unity usu
ally try to make people one by making them the same.
Communism tried this through imposed ideology, and
96 finding the groove
Ensemble Community
I suggest that ensemble can be the alternative meta
phor to the melting pot and the salad bowl.
The American Heritage Dictionary defines ensem
ble as “a unit of complementary parts that contribute
to a single effect” (from Old French, together, and Late
Latin, at the same time). Ensemble community balances
the individual and the group. Watch any jazz ensemble,
and it is difficult to listen to the whole without also lis
tening to the parts. When a song is in full swing, you
can appreciate the collective sound, you can focus in
on the bass player as
he runs a scale in time Jazz is freedom music, . . .
with the drummer, or the one-and-many e pluribus
you can give your at unum with a laid-back beat.
tention to the pianist, Robert G. O’Meally, jazz expert
who could carry the
whole tune by herself and yet is playing for and with
the other members of the group. At once, they operate
as individuals and a unit. Bound by the song but not
constrained by it. One and yet many.
Observe a jazz ensemble. Let your mind wander.
98 finding the groove
Practicing Christianity
If I told you you were going with me tonight to hear
someone who has practiced the trumpet for thirty
life in concert 105
Casual Apprenticeships
Drummers hang out with drummers and horn play
ers with horn players, learning from one another, en
joying a fraternity of common blessing. Church can
and should be a safe place where we can develop the
spiritual gifts we have in company with others who
share the same gifting. This allows for peer-to-peer
exchange, with veterans and novices sharing together.
This need not be a formal program in your church;
rather, it is the result of our realizing that we need
each other. When we see someone with a similar gift
edness, we engage him or her in dialogue. Over a cup
of coffee we compare notes on the joys and struggles,
as well as the nuts and bolts, of the calling that God
has on our life. This seems to be what Samuel was
doing with his school of the prophets.24
I dream of doing this someday. I would love to be
life in concert 109
Jam Sessions
Not only is it good to hang out with those who are
practicing the same instrument you play; there is also
a need to practice with others who will play the same
song but on a different instrument. Jam sessions are
times when those with varying degrees of ability can
come together and work out and work on some things.
It is experience through practicing performance. Paul
Berliner writes,
As essential to students as technical information
and counsel is the understanding of jazz acquired
110 finding the groove
115
Jazzaneutics
The last thing I want you to hear me say is that I’m
against classical hermeneutics. That’s not the case.
Rather, I’m proposing an accompaniment that will put
the “art” back into the “art and science of biblical inter
pretation.” A jazz-shaped approach to the Scriptures
emphasizes knowing them by living them in com
munity. It’s not just reading our Bibles but letting the
Bible read us. Instead of always interpreting the word
of God, we desire more that it interpret us.
We need an alternative, complementary way of
knowing God’s word. What I’m talking about is an ap
proach to the Scriptures that sees the meaning in the
knowing and the doing — knowing by doing.
As we’ve seen, jazz is an interpretive art. The goal
is to be so familiar with the originals that we can then
add our own voice within the “bounds and bonds of the
song” as Ossie Davis said.2 The goal of “jazzaneutics”
(if you will) is similar. We should spend so much time
in meditation and memorization of the Scriptures that
when called on, we — like Stephen and Mary of old —
can play them like a song from the heart.
finding your voice 123
hopeless.
You guide me along the right path for the sake of
your name.
Even though I travel down the dark, unsafe, and
potholed alleyway, I fear no harm
because I know you are my owner and driver;
your fine tooling and loving hands give me
surefootedness and steadfastness.
You set out an open lift and your toolbox before me,
even as my abusers watch impatiently through the
waiting room window,
eager for their chance to try to run me into the
ground once again.
finding your voice 133
I almost cried.
developing
your ear
a one-of-a-kind masterpiece?
141
“The world must learn that I love the Father and that
I do exactly what my Father has commanded me.”25
CHAPTER 8
165
Tragicomic Hope
Musically speaking, the blues are simple. They most
often consist of a twelve-bar sequence, a chorus, that
is repeated over and over with infinite variations. Its
power is not in its complexity but in the story it tells.
Existentially speaking, the blues are a way of deal
ing with suffering. They are therapy. The blues are a
narrative wrought out of the deep feelings that accom
pany life in a world that isn’t as it should be. To sing
the blues is to latch on to a tragedy in such a way that
we embrace it for all its worth. It is to become inti
mately familiar with the details of our suffering. This
is the most difficult part of composing a jazz-shaped
faith. It requires that we become intimately familiar
with our pain and the pain of the world. As Ralph El
singing the blues 173
Blues People*
Buddy Bolden was a little crazy.
He is also recognized by many jazz historians as the
“father of jazz.” Check out this description:
He played so forcefully that his trumpet could be
heard all over New Orleans. Given the fact that
this man’s soul.28 In the same way that jazz won’t let us
forget the blues, Jesus’ message won’t let us forget the
least of these — the blues people. The gospel must con
nect with the poor and the poor in spirit, the miserable
and the marginalized, in order for it to be the gospel.
When Jesus spoke of the gospel, he did so in terms of
a kingdom for blues people (and beyond).29
The good news that Christ proclaimed and demon
strated was connected to a larger, more encompassing
vision that included forgiveness of sins yet was so much
bigger. The kingdom is about the shalom — the peace,
wholeness, well-being — and overarching influence of
God in every area of life. As Mark said, the gospel is
big enough to include “all creation.” 30 It is an alterna
tive reality that speaks to every area of life, including
the painful elements. As a matter of fact, you know
it’s the true gospel when it is applied to the pain and
in the impoverished areas of our lives and society. The
gospel is the good news that Jubilee — liberation, re
lease — has arrived.
need to make sure we’re all playing the same song. Lis
ten to the words of our Composer:
“For I was hungry and you gave me something to
eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to
drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I
needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and
you looked after me, I was in prison and you came
to visit me. . . .
“I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one
of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for
me.” 39
so what
189
Harlem, That Is . . .
Renaissance is a beautiful word which simply means
“rebirth.”
We are all renaissance people. The question is,
“Which one?”
Most of us are familiar with the classical renais
sance that is usually called “The Renaissance” (more
accurately, “The Italian or European Renaissance”),
which took place during the late 1300s to 1600s. It
was a time when classical thought was applied to rea
son, rhetoric, art, science, literature, poetry, architec
ture, and music.
America also had a renaissance. Ours was a jazz-
shaped rebirth of culture. It took place in Harlem
during the 1920s to 1940s and then spread across the
country. The Harlem Renaissance was a time in which
196 finding the groove
A Jazz Theologian
I deeply desire to be a part of a generation of people
who understand what IT is — a generation of jazz theo
logians. I am not “the” jazz theologian; I am simply “a”
jazz theologian. I am hoping to be one of many who
seek to understand the way of Jesus in postmovement
America. We have yet to fully own what it means to
live out the ideals of the “beloved community” for
which those in the Civil Rights Movement sacrificed.
The night before Martin Luther King Jr. was assas
sinated, he said he had been to the mountaintop and
seen the Promised Land. I believe we are standing on
the banks of the Jordan, and that which he saw, we
can enter.
Can you see IT?
taste IT?
smell IT?
the land flowing with milk
and honey — the kingdom of God
in our own place and time
If you answered “yes” to any of these questions,
then you might be a jazz theologian too. Seek syncopa
tion. Hear that which is so often missed, and accent
the offbeat until IT begins to swing. Find the groove,
and set the Spirit of God free to improvise in you and
so what 201
acknowledgments
205
To my children:
Selah: Shine, dance — let his glory
be your beauty.
Kia: God chose you; always choose God.
Gabriel: Let God be your strength.
James: Let God’s joy keep you on your knees.
Mihret: Always be an ambassador
for the mercy of God.
Temesgen: Go for broke, for God is with you.
To my family:
Mom: You gave me life. I am forever indebted
to you for your sacrifice.
Dad: You gave me two great names, Robert and
Gelinas. Thank you for the gift of identity.
Bro’s: Dennis and Roland — Did you hear that?
Swish!
Bra’s: Chris, Tina, Katrina, Sierra — I love you.
209
this book at least once a year. It is here that I was first awak-
7. James 1:19.
8. John 20:14.
9. John 20:26.
10. John 21:4.
11. Luke 24:15 – 16.
12. Philippians 4:5.
13. 1 Corinthians 15:3 – 8.
14. John 16:7.
15. 1 Thessalonians 5:17.
16. Brad Braxton’s term in No Longer Slaves: Galatians and Afri
can American Experience (Collegeville, Minn.: Liturgical Press,
2002), 5.
17. Os Guinness, Prophetic Untimeliness (Grand Rapids: Baker,
2003), 11.
18. Quoted in John F. Szwed, Jazz 101: A Complete Guide to
Learning and Loving Jazz (New York: Hyperion, 2000), 33.
19. John 10:4 – 5.
20. John 16:8 – 11.
21. 1 Samuel 3:7.
22. 1 Samuel 3:8 – 10.
23. Dallas Willard, In Search of Guidance: Developing a Conversa
tional Relationship with God (San Francisco: HarperSanFran
cisco, 1993), 112.
24. John 10:37.
25. John 14:31.
26. Matthew 26:53.
27. John 16:23.
28. For a more detailed chronology and exegesis of the Dream
speech, be sure to read Drew Hansen’s book The Dream: Mar
tin Luther King Jr. and the Speech That Inspired a Nation (New
York: HarperCollins, 2003), in which he places the prepared
speech and the delivered speech side by side.
216 finding the groove
Chapter 9: So What
1. Eric Nisenson, The Making of Kind of Blue: Miles Davis and
His Masterpiece (New York: St. Martin’s, 2000), 1.
2. Ibid.
3. If you do not own Kind of Blue, you might want to purchase it
along with an album that is pre – Kind of Blue, perhaps some
big band jazz, so you can hear the stark contrast.
4. See Jerry DeMuth, “Tired of Being Sick and Tired,” The Na
tion 198 (June 1, 1964): 548 – 51.
5. See Nisenson, Making of Kind of Blue, 8 – 9.
6. Ibid., ix.
7. Mark 1:15.
8. Matthew 4:17.
9. Louis Armstrong, spoken introduction to “What a Wonderful
World” (1970 version, Flying Dutchman).
10. “These men who have caused trouble all over the world have
now come here” (Acts 17:6). The Greek word translated in the
NIV as “cause trouble” can also be translated as “turn upside
down.”
11. Acts 4:34.
12. Philippians 4:22.
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