Dizzy

While flipping through the presets of my radio the other day, I stumbled across a tune by jazz great Dizzy Gillespie. Dizzy is one of the musicians credited with creating "bebop" music in the 1940's. As you can see from the picture above, he was easy to spot. The bell of his trumpet was pointed up instead of straight out, and Dizzy played his horn with his cheeks puffed out, almost appearing to be blowing up a balloon. But it wasn't simply his appearance which made Dizzy unique -- it was the music. He was a huge influence on the jazz scene before and after his death in 1993.

.

I was fortunate to hear and meet Dizzy Gillespie while I was a college student in the early 80's. A friend of mine was in the music department and she knew I'd appreciate attending a lecture given by Dizzy to a bunch of music majors. He talked about his early career and about his recordings with legends like Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk and others. He played a little bit as well, the sweet music flowing freely from the elevated bell of his trumpet. I was no music major, but I could sure appreciate his mastery of rhythms and harmonies, not to mention the fact that I was staring at living history.

.

The lecture included a time for questions from the audience. Of course this being a group of college students, the questions were very general as no one seemed to know many specifics of Dizzy's resume. One of his more recent credits was playing a short solo piece on an extended version of the Stevie Wonder tune, "Do I Do." It was hardly a complicated piece -- kind of a throwaway improvised solo for an incredibly talented musician like Gillespie. Yet a young woman stood up and asked Dizzy to play that solo.

.

Dizzy just shook his head, thinking of some way to make the coed understand. He didn't "know" the solo. It had just been played off the top of his head. It meant nothing to him. Yet for this 20 year old young woman, it was the only Dizzy Gillespie music she was familiar with. She wasn't as impressed with the musical pioneer as she was the guest soloist on a Stevie Wonder tune. She wanted to hear the Dizzy she knew.

.

I've often thought of that lady who wanted to hear an improvised solo duplicated live. I wondered if she really missed all the history and groundbreaking experimentation in music, or if she just froze trying to think of a good question to ask. And as I heard Dizzy's trumpet come alive again on my radio, I began to think about the way we treat our Creator. Are we happy with one small portion of who God is or do we crave more knowledge about Him? In musical terms, are we happy with, "What a Friend We Have in Jesus" while we ignore "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God," "O God, Our Help in Ages Past," and "I Know Whom I Have Believed?"

A study of the attributes of God is always worthwhile, mainly because there are always some we forget about. . . or ignore. . . or never discover in the first place. We love to think of the picture of Jesus holding children, but we tend to put the image of Jesus making a whip out of cords and clearing the temple far in the recesses of our minds. It's as if we are creating God in our image -- or at least the image we want Him to be.

.

In Romans 11:22 Paul wrote, "Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God's kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off." The kindness we can handle, but we don't like thinking about the severity. Like those who enjoy the "New Testament God" but cannot stand the "Old Testament God", too many try to pick and choose His attributes like vegetable choices at the buffet. But it just doesn't work that way. We cannot choose to have a loving God who is not holy, nor can we serve an omnipresent God who is not just. We cannot engage the Dizzy Gillespie who plays a cameo on a Stevie Wonder album without dealing with the musical pioneer who helped establish an entire genre of music. So, why would we attempt to subdivide the Supreme Being?

.

There are certain aspects of God which draw people. How could you not be drawn to a forgiving, merciful, powerful and loving Creator? Yet we cannot dissect away the part of God which tells us to be perfect as He is perfect. We cannot ignore His call to obedience. We cannot throw out Him allowing us to suffer so that He can hold us up through it. We cannot separate the God we think we want from the God Who is. Some churches attempt to do just that. They preach about the God who loves and twist it to say that God wants us to be rich and comfy. However the idea of picking up our own cross to follow Christ is all but surgically removed from their Bible. Not only is that dishonest with Scripture, it's dishonest to themselves.

.

The Lord is perfect in all He does. We, on the other hand, are far from perfect. So our understanding is what must be adjusted. Our worldview must fit with reality -- the truth which is given in Scripture. So to deny God's justice or His severity is as ridiculous as defining a musician by one performance.