Beat It

This is a shout out to my high school art teacher, Mr. Blauvelt, who introduced me to the African djembe drum and how to play it. I finally applied this reservoir of knowledge in the drum’s native land.

I sat in on the choir practice the other night and they let me be the percussionist. My friend Elisa eventually showed up and we all got in on the tomfoolery. It was a lot of fun. As you can imagine, African music is heavy on percussion and vocals, especially for the Mass. They have a portable organ in the parish here that was donated, but it’s used sparingly. Some people would be scandalized by the music here (particularly one friend of mine who hates clapping…even if it saves fairies).

I dig it. I think God prefers that we get into the music that praises Him. Everything in moderation, of course; there’s times for somber tunes and silence. There’s also time to stir it up and jam out. I have had plenty of time for the latter.

-Bob
written 07/05/11