“The Jazz Fly”: Finding a New Beat

Hello Friends,

It’s November! The excitement of Halloween has come and gone as bags of candy linger in hard to reach places, the leaves have changed color and have begun to fall to the ground, the fields have been harvested and look empty and vague, and the cool temperatures entice us to stay in bed longer under several blankets. Change is in the air…. As we get ready to experience a change in the weather and in the season, and as we get ready to celebrate Thanksgiving in a few weeks, it’s time to think about a new way of living.

As I think about a new way of living, I think about some of the stories that I have been told or read or even heard. Have you ever read or been told or heard a story before? Growing up, being read stories and reading stories was something that was part of my daily routine. My mother read I Love You Stinky Face by Lisa McCourt all the time. This specific story reassures children of a parent’s unconditional love through a series of imaginative scenarios where a mother tells her son she would love him even if he were a stinky skunk, a swamp creature, a cyclops, a dinosaur, or even a bug eating alien.

My dad enjoyed reading Robert Scotellaro’s book, Daddy Fixed the Vacuum Cleaner, which tells about a father who fixes a vacuum cleaner so well that it sucks up everything in its path—from flowers and laundry to a baby’s diaper and even the family’s pets—and ends with these words: to fix the vacuum cleaner, maybe daddy shouldn’t “have used the engine from his truck.”

Just the other day, in my family group chat, my sister sent us a picture of a book that was always on the bookshelf. The book was written by Mercer Mayer in 1968; and the story follows a boy as he decides to face his fear, only to discover that the nightmare is just as scared as he is. The title of this book is There’s a Nightmare in My Closet. When my nieces and nephews were younger, I read them the book Beautiful Oops by Barney Saltzberg, which teaches children that even a mistake, like a spill or torn piece of paper, can become a new work of art.

Besides the ones mentioned above, there is another story that I loved as a child (and still do to this day.) It’s a story about a jazz band seeking a new beat, a new sound. The title of the story is The Jazz Fly. The book features characters like the Jazz Bugs, Willie the Worm, Nancy the Gnat, and Sammy the Centipede. The story begins with a lost fly, who speaks in scat-singing phrases like “ZA-baza, BOO-zaba, ZEE-zah RO-ni!” He asks a series of other animals, including a frog and a hog, for directions to town. The other animals don’t understand the fly’s jazzy way of speaking, and they respond only with their own animal sounds, such as “Rrribit” and “Oink”. The puzzled fly eventually makes his way to a nightclub, where he plays drums with his insect jazz band. That evening, during his performance, the fly decides to improvise. He recalls the animal noises he heard throughout the day and incorporates them into his solo. The audience loves the unexpected and creative twist, and the insect dinner club “hoppin” with excitement. The Jazz Fly, with his newfound inspiration, has created a fresh way to play jazz.

The stories we read and are told, all have important lessons for us to learn. They teach us about loving and being kind to one another, they teach us about helping others, they teach us about overcoming our fears, they teach us about learning from our mistakes, and they teach us that sometimes making changes, finding a new beat, is what we need in order to be the best person we can be. The more I think about the stories I have read and the lessons that I have learned, the more I realize that out of all the stories and lessons the greatest story ever told involves someone who will always love you no matter what. Do you know who I am talking about? That’s right! I’m talking about Jesus.

The Bible is filled with wonderful stories and lessons, but the stories about Jesus are very important. Those stories teach us about love, about helping others, about trust and faith, about not giving up, about facing our fears, about trying new things, and so much more. (Do any of those lessons sound familiar?!) The story of Jesus is a story about living a new life, of finding a new beat to follow. And the lessons of Jesus continuously find ways into the stories we read today.

As we embrace this new month and the changes that come with it, may we allow Jesus to change us so that we can bring life to his “jazz band.” What story of Jesus do you love to hear?

Your Friend, Holy Spirit!