I haven't written anything in some time. It isn't that I haven't had anything to say (as some people who know me well can verify) it's just that sometimes, things are so big, the reflection is effort in and of itself.
But, tonight, I need to share, so...thank you in advance for indulging me.
Tonight, I saw the creativity and skill of my oldest son in action, and it was profound. This son is a drummer. He had his first drum kit when he was 10. The music teacher at his first primary school told me that he had "...no musical aptitude". When he enrolled in a new school in year 5, he took a test and won a percussion scolarship. Not so long after that, when his dad was supposed to be on an errand to find a lawnmower, he came home with a drum kit.
That kid drummed. He pounded....he tapped....he felt......music like I could not hear it. He heard the rhythm. He felt the foundation of things. He played in school, in bands. And on his own. He made me listen to things I couldn't make sense of. All because of the beat.
He played and played. Even in the hardest times...the darkest times. He drummed. Just as surely as I sang the harmony to any tune I could hear- he felt the foundation, and played it for me.
Tonight, I was privileged to be in a place where he drummed and people listened...as a man, a man who hears the rhythm of life and not just the melody. A man who has found his way- come into his own- being. Apart from me, yet indelibly a part. I was humbled.
We all see the beauty of our children's giftings, so I know I'm not alone- but for me, it was an affirmation, a blessing and a prayer all rolled into one. This man, will see things, hear things, do things differently to me. And he will be amazing. A complex mash up between his dad, me, and his own spirit. And I relise this is a blessing and whatever has come before and what whatever will be- he is his own person. Apart from me, and apart from his circumstance...and he will literally drum to his own beat.
And there is nothing that could give me greater joy.
