Beats Part 1

When it comes to beats, well, I'm a fiend
I like my sugar with coffee and cream
Well, I gotta keep it going keep it going full steam
Too sweet to be sour too nice to be mean
       Beastie Boys- Intergalactic


You feeling that? If you know the song you have to be rocking your head, leaning into that ridiculous futuristic sound with a wicked old-school beat.   Here’s a link to get us all on the same page:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TgTXYFHlfk

There is too much fun to be had in this song, and I need a little of that perennial Beastie Boys buoyancy just now. It’s been 121 days since we cancelled in-person worship here at St. Andrews- Covenant, and all that this pandemic has brought is weighing heavy upon us all. Our governor here in NC just announced Plan B for the upcoming school semester https://www.nhcs.net/nhcsreadysetreturn/plan-b. While I hear the necessary wisdom in it, I know how worried and scared parents, teachers and students must feel. But cranking a Beastie Boys song is not a way to try and forget for a moment the weight of the world. Is there even a song capable of that kind of heavy lifting in 2020? What I need today from a song like this is found in the line
Well, I gotta keep it going, keep it going full steam
Too sweet to be sour, too nice to be mean. 

I got to keep it going. Or, as the preacher in Hebrews writes in 10:23-24 Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful. And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds.

Before you wonder how you can muster more energy for another day, see how the passage points out that it’s not up to you, not just you anyway.  We have to provoke one another to love and good deeds. If you are going to have anything close to a good day then you are going to need an assist. There is hope here isn’t there? Think of how many things, just by being themselves, help you lift up your head and keep going. Birds singing, wind blowing, someone laughing, a friend texting, a beloved calling- all of these gifts conspiring to help you feel the heartbeat of the world that is still beating. The world is weary and still worth loving.  God has declared it so.
Grab a beat, call a friend, look up and reach out- hold fast to our hope.

 After all, you are too sweet to be sour, too nice to be mean.