jammin' with    God
a Christian musician’s perspective by Pete Caputo

Jam#2            “jammin’” Basics
In the music world, a jam happens when two or more musicians decide to join their talents and make one unified sound.  What comes together is an amalgam of experiences, emotions, moods, textures and styles, that is unique to that combination of individuals.  Now although you can jam to practically any type or style of music, the area where jams are most known for is in the world of Jazz music.  If you don’t normally listen to jazz, I would suggest that you check it out.  Just stop and listen closely, even if just for a few minutes and let some real jazz musicians take you one time down the road.  There are four points that I would like for you to observe:

Respect:         It always starts with respect.  This is the glue that holds the session together.  It’s as simple as saying, “Hey man, I know you got something to say.  So do I.  Why don’t we check our words and our minds at the door and try to really communicate?  Which brings us to the next point. 

Honesty:         It’s gotta be your statement, not someone else’s.  You can try using someone else’s stuff, but you know what happens?  After the initial shine wears off, you haven’t really said anything.  You haven’t shared the real you, and then you start losing the respect of the other players. 

Humility:          You may not always hear it, but you can feel it.  It may sound like some of these cats are going off on some bender, just to impress everyone around them with their musical prowess and abilities.  Well in some cases, this may be true.  After all if it’s your party, then you can cry if you want to.

But then, then we’re not talking about a real jam session, are we?  We’re describing a showcase, or something resembling a support group for over-players anonymous.  Not that there’s anything wrong with that either, because there’s a place for all that.  But, it’s… well… it’s just not a jam. 

You see, you can’t jam with the attitude, “Here I am.  Listen to me.”  A jam is not one person playing O, solo mio?  Jams are a team effort, and the unspoken agreement is,  “Hey, I’m here playing my part, but I also want you to know that I’m depending on you to help make this jam work.  So I’ll listen as much as I’ll talk, and I’ll support you when you want to speak, and then, if I feel like taking the lead at that point, I will, ‘cause I know you’ll be there for me too.”

 And finally we arrive at:

Surrender:      This is the level that every good musician aspires to.  It’s the hardest aspect of a jam to achieve, but once you’re there… man you know it!

You’re lost somewhere in that landscape of sound, but you don’t mind it at all.  Suddenly, you’re not concerned about what note or chord comes next, you’re just flowing along a current that you’ve never felt before and you know there’s something very special about it.  At that moment, you have shut out everything else around you.  Things that normally concern you don’t even cross your mind.  Something has taken over.  The jam now has a life of its own.  You are no longer playing the jam.  The jam is playing you.

It doesn’t even matter if anyone else is listening.  It’s not about playing to an audience.  It’s about the moment and what is being said collectively.  You can talk to any professional musician, jazz or otherwise and most will all tell you stories about the night they went off on a jam in some offbeat club somewhere in East Jabip, with maybe four people in the audience.  But the level of musicianship was like nothing they had ever felt before and perhaps they never will again.  They might spend countless hours in the recording studio trying to recreate it, but no dice.

Yet what remains is the memory of that jam, and anyone that was there would testify to it.  It’s an experience that none will soon forget.  It’s what keeps us all going, as musicians.  Because we know that if we got there, once before, we can get there again.  It gets into your blood.  ‘Becomes kind of an obsession.  It drives us further and further into realms of the unknown, pushing us to levels of musicianship outside our comfort zones.

This is why we jam, as musicians.  But as Christian musicians, what does all this mean to us?

Well I have to be careful here not to presume that I speak for all Christian Music-dom.  ‘Cause some of it can be pretty dumb, (just kidding). 

I write not as an expert on music, nor as an expert on musicians, Christian or otherwise.  I write as one person who knows my God in a personal way, someone who has found that place of surrender, through mutual respect, honesty and humility, that leads me to the joy and fulfillment of being in His presence.  So I write as someone who desires to go there as much as humanly possible.

I can tell you that the thing I keep learning every day I draw breath is that each of us face a choice:  to either play it off the page, punch the timecard, feed our face and go to bed, or take part in the jam.  And, can I tell you something?  God loves to jam!  He’s the bad-est jazz musician there ever was, and man… He is just waiting for you to take a seat, pick up your axe and go to town!

For most of us, being a Christian musician means we have been given a gift.  We know it’s from God, so we nurture it, we hone it, and then spend the rest of our time figuring out how or where to use it.  All of this is admirable and very sincere.  But here’s the big but… ready?

BUT… when was the last time you just played for the sake of just jammin’ with God?  When was the last time you closed your book full of sheet music and just jumped into the jam? 

I know what some of you are thinking.  “Hey Pete, I don’t know how to play without sheet music.  That’s the only way I know how to play.”

That’s fine.  I understand that.  But, you’re not getting what I’m trying to say to you.  Let me put it this way.

When was the last time you placed down your instrument and started really playing?  When was the last time you weren’t even thinking about music but knew you were in the thick of a real jam with the King?  When was the last time it was just you and Him?

You can be jammin’ with God long before you even think about picking up your axe.  You can be jammin’ with God even if you never pick up an instrument again.

In the afterlife, do you really think you’ll be playing the drums, or bass or keys, or whatever you play?  You’ve always known that playing your instrument has a spiritual “side” to it, didn’t you?  Well, think of it this way.  What you’re doing now isn’t just making music.  What you’re doing is communicating with God. 

You’re actually getting a taste of a heavenly language, and God only knows how you’re affecting the heavenly realms by jammin’.  But you know what?  He wants you to know more.  See, that’s His part of the Jam.  That’s the part that will keep you comin’ back for more.  But careful!  I warn you, it’s habit forming.

 
Jammin exercise:               The next time you see a colorful sunset, take five minutes to soak it in.  There’s nothing like a fiery sunset to charge your senses and get you out of your daily routine.  As you watch those deep saturated colors edging away into the horizon, think about it as a moment that God is giving you to take the lead.  What a rhythm guitarist!  Man, is He smooth, or what?  So, go ahead.  Say something!  He’s waiting.  That’s it… no thinking, no prayer requests, this is not the time for that.  You’re just there to give back some beauty that He’s already showing you. 

Not sure what I mean?  Need some help? 

OK, then start with some respect, (Hey God, you are awesome.  I am amazed at how you bring color to my world and warmth to my life.)

Next, throw in some honesty, (tell Him something you never told Him before.  Tell Him in a way that is new and different, just like that sunset.  You may never see one just like it again.)

Now, try some humility, (Lord, how could I ever think of living a day without you?  From the rising of the sun to the going down of the same, you are the one who knows my every movement, yet you still love me.) 

And finally, time to surrender, (Lord, take me away from myself.  Let me get lost in your presence, because I want to know more about you, and I want my life to reflect more of you, each day.  So for now, as this sunset fades away into the darkness of night, may the memory of this experience never fade.  And even though I may never share this experience with another human being, that's OK, because it was just for you and me.  Thanks God.)

Does all this sound interesting?  I was waiting for you to say that.  Let’s find out more about this relationship between the creator of all and little ole’ us.  It’s the best part about being alive.  Because once you are alive to the knowledge and presence of God, there’s no greater joy.  It’s our only link to the vastness of forever.  Let’s get plugged in.  Time to pick up your axe, ‘cause we’re going back to the Renaissance, baby!