Cymbals

Walk into your local music store and pick up the biggest, most obnoxious looking pair of cymbals you can find. Then, start clanging them together for all you're worth. Observe those around you. Are they annoyed, irritated... HORRIFIED? To this scripture likens professed believers who don't love others. I have been around many different drummers over the years and they always strive to make their drums and cymbals sound a certain way, especially in recording situations. Words such as "crisp", "clean", "deep", "resonant" and "clear" come to mind. "Clangy" is decidedly not the sound they're going for. During this journey of dealing with serious illness in my own family, the love others have shown has been invaluable. Conversely, I have been perplexed at some who would, as the passage in I Corinthians 13 says, be willing to literally burn for their faith but lack simple human compassion. Francis Bacon seems to almost paraphrase the passage politely, "For a crowd is not company; and faces are but a gallery of pictures; and talk but a tinkling cymbal, where there is no love."

Before percussionists start feeling they're getting a bad rap, there are many, many positive verses about cymbals such as, "Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals" (Psalm 150:5). Orchestral percussionists are amazing in their technique to manipulate the sound of cymbals. The layman might assume that playing the cymbals is less rigorous than other instruments. To the contrary, playing them correctly requires great skill. While playing traditional cymbals, "in preparation for a stroke they are held parallel a few inches apart, with the surfaces vertical, one at waist height and the other some distance above it. They are struck together by bringing the upper cymbal down while the lower freely catches the upper motion. Depending on the type of crash desired, the cymbals should be brought together with either a very quick or longer "fa-lam" (flam) If only a single crash is to be played, the sounding cymbals are then both raised in a follow through and held vertical but no longer parallel, but instead in roughly the same plane with their concave surfaces facing the conductor and held head high on either side of the player. This allows the maximum effect to reach the conductor and audience. Alternatively, if another stroke is to follow, the cymbals are allowed to follow through only until they have reached the same heights as they started (but now vertically reversed), and are then ready in position for the next stroke. For softer strokes, in preparation the cymbals are held not quite vertically but at a slight angle, but still parallel, and the upper cymbal is then allowed to fall towards the lower. The follow through is reduced or even omitted after softer strokes. Other common techniques are to choke the sounding cymbals by bringing them together and holding them with their entire rims touching, thus quickly damping their vibration, or to damp one or both against the body, and there are many more advanced techniques. A skilled player can produce elaborate rhythms by combining these techniques, and with fine cymbals can exercise precise control over both the loudness and the decay and apparent duration of each crash." (from Drum Solo Artist).

So clanging the cymbals indiscriminately is a misuse of an instrument that's primary Biblical purpose is to praise God. Hmmm...

Jesus Christ said to the Church of Laodicea, "I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth." (Revelation 3:15,16) The opposite of love has been described not as hate, but as indifference, to which it appears Jesus referred in this passage. This indifference in the context of perceived piety greatly distressed Jesus. I was recently involved in a Christian mother's group that was very indifferent to my situation. There are few things that confound me more than believers being apathetic toward hurting people because they are so involved with their own concerns. Such was the case with the Laodiceans. I have a friend who had fourth stage ovarian cancer. She called a woman from her church after a particularly difficult chemotherapy treatment and asked her to bring a meal over for her husband and four children. The woman said she'd love to, but couldn't- she was hurrying out the door for a Bible study! Talk about not seeing the forest for the trees! CLANG CLANG CLANG!

Love isn't just a part of the life of a believer or group of believers. It's not just a side issue. A Christian cannot neglect loving others and be pleasing to God, no matter what they do. Rather, love DEFINES such person or group. Are the CYMBALS in the I Corinthians passage a SYMBOL for the heart of man? Is the heart either strangely warmed by the love of God, such as a sensitivity of the skilled percussionist, or coldly and recklessly clamorous? I bought a t-shirt in a resale shop the other day that has a tattoo inspired graphic design akin to the "Hell's Angels" tattoos of old, only this one reads "Dare to Love". Is it the rebellious, non-conformists among us who love others?

If so, I guess I'm for the ones who "march to a different drummer" -so to speak.