Take this man to the Blue Spot…
He wants to hear some “Good Jazz”. I recently borrowed the Ken Burns film “Jazz” from the library and I have to say, I’m in hog heaven. There are many musical styles that capture me but jazz keeps trying to be the favorite. It’s really fascinating to trace the roots of the music and glimpse the personalities that drove and shaped the art form. It’s also interesting to hear the struggles and tensions that surrounded the growth of the music. Sounds like a lot of the same struggles and arguments that people still have. One thing that can not be separated from the history of jazz is the role of race. The music unquestionably cut across racial, social, and economic lines; but did so before the culture was ready to cross those lines or in some cases even acknowledge the importance of the lines. The theme that I hear repeated over and over is a sense of belonging and posession and the importance placed on that feeling. “It’s black music” or “it’s white music”, when the music obviously speaks profoundly to everyone. Most of the musicians privately dismissed these thoughts (just look at the famed midnight jam sessions), but the sense of establishing an identity pervaded the culture.
This got me thinking about all of the ways that we identify and categorize ourselves. There is a very fundamental need in us for “identity”. Often that identity involves belonging and association. When we feel that we belong we’re safe, not alone, understood, and have worth. Not necessarily a bad thing. But those identities also serve as divisions. Just consider the rancor and animosity of sports fans. Because I root for a team (that I don’t even technically belong to) and you support my rival, I can dislike you and insult you and your intelligence. I find this attitude baffling and saddening. Most people are only fans of a team because of geography, a little piece of latitudinal luck; not because there is some inherent superiority to this group of athletes. Sounds silly, but we do the same thing with identifications of greater import as well. What about politics. I know people who would be appalled if I claimed to be a Democrat. They would find it difficult to talk to me. They would be so schocked and horrified they might wonder about one of my other identities, that of being a Christian. It’s unconscionable. I think that we become threatened when we perceive our safe identity threatened by someone who doesn’t identify with us; who may even challenge the very aspects of our identity that we love. Consequently, instead of engaging the other person we denigrate, insult, marginalize, and dismiss their value. In doing so we make our world a little smaller. And quite frankly, we invalidate the very identity that we have cultivated and love so well. If your identity can’t stand scrutiny, then what is it but a mask of clay just waiting to be shattered? It’s a hard thing to be an individual while at the same time claim a corporate identity. Likewise, it is difficult to recognize the individuality and corporate identity of another person when you feel the grating and tug of conflict. We must nevertheless rise to this level.
The character that I’m espousing calls to mind one of my favorite postulates. I remember trying to wrestle with the idea of conflict and how Jesus claims to bring a peace that passes understanding. I went round and round before I decided that not only is conflict inevitable, but in way necessary. What we are called to is a new definition of peace. I like to define peace not as the absence of conflict, but the ability to stand firm in the midst of conflict. The person who has found peace has found identity, has claimed their small part of the universe, acknowledges that the universe is bigger than themselves, and accepts that everyone else has a right to their piece of the universe as well. Moreover, they realize that there will be intersection of these identities and that while that intersection will seldom be neat and clean, it actually makes their part of the universe that much bigger. Pardon my late night philosophising, and meditate on who you are and what makes you “you”. Consider which of those things are most important to you and in what ways you show it. Now imagine if someone were to try and take that from you. Is your response combative? passive? humble? educational? probing? What would you do not only to defend your identity, but also validate it in the eyes of this other person? Where is your peace and your identity in the midst of this swirling conflict and uncertainty?
And all this started with Jazz? The human brain is a wonderful and wondrous thing. Creation and Art have a power that inspires beyond the immediate sensory moment and touch us where we don’t think that we want to be touched. Listen to to some Good Jazz and get touched.
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