Tempokai

  One time, God rocked a solo for seven days straight. On the first day, He created a guitar worthy of Him, and strummed it until the strings snapped and He made His next guitar. On the second day, God's new guitar was fashioned in His own image, so He could strum His songs on His own terms. And on the third day, God made a bass, because the guitar wasn't enough.

  On the fourth day, God made the drums so that He could drum to the guitar, bass, and the melody He composed in His own mind. And on the fifth day, God made a mic. He could sing his songs directly to his audience.

  On the sixth day, God made microphones and amplifiers to help His voice reach farther into the world, and He also added effects pedals and stomp boxes.

  And on the seventh day, He called the Holy Spirit, His Son, and The Devil, His Demon, to join in the jam.

  Then, He looked around and saw that the jam session was cking a keyboard pyer.

  God picked up the guitar that He had created for Himself on the second day, and strummed the chords of a chord progression He liked, then He sang His songs. The Devil beat on the drums. Holy Spirit pyed the keys, and the Holy Spirit's fingers danced across the keys with such precision that you could hear a pin drop when He pyed. His Son pyed the bass line and made it sing and wail as though He were living inside it.

  And then they pyed together... and it sounded like this:

  A guitar opening solo, filled with majestic sounds

  A bass line that pounded through the walls and shook the earth

  A demonic beat from hell

  A keyboard melody that left you breathless and unable to speak

  A chorus of voices that spoke from truth to power.

  And then, a saxophone that seemed to say, "This is freedom music."

  A lead guitar that said, "I can see you. I know who you are. I am with you."

  And the Holy Spirit's voice that said, "You can be more. You have all the power of creation at your disposal. I can help."

  Then the Devil, His Demon, took a turn. He pyed with such fury, such hatred, and such evil, that one would think he was pying a completely different song. Yet it completed the whole.

  And when the song was over, the Devil said to God, "It's time to rock!" And so the music began again...

  ***

  The preacher stood at the pulpit and talked about how we could get everything we wanted in life by following God's word, by listening to the preacher's message, and by going to church.

  "In God's book, everything is written. His solo, our part. In His solo, we are free to do whatever we want. But on our part, we must follow His instructions. There is only one way to Heaven."

  The people cpped and said, "Yes, Lord!"

  The preacher walked back and forth on the stage like he was having a conversation with God.

  "God says, 'Do this, and do that. You will be rewarded if you do what I ask, and punished if you don't.' Just don't py bad music. But you don't have to be afraid of music. You just have to be afraid of making terrible music."

  The preacher pointed his finger at the congregation and said, "The devil is a musician! He makes a terrible sound! Be careful if you are going to py his music. It's not the devil's fault that his music is terrible! The devil just doesn't know any better. He just doesn't have a good musical ear. But you do! You are God's children! You have His musical ear! Don't let the devil trick you into pying his music! Don't make music like the devil. If you want to make bad music, py your music at home, and py it alone!"

  The people cpped and said, "Yes, Lord!"

  The preacher said, "I'm not saying that we shouldn't listen to the devil. But there is good music, and bad music. Also, average music. I can't tell the difference between the music of good people, and the music of bad people. But you can. God gave you ears to hear! You have a gift from God!"

  The people cpped and said, "Yes, Lord!"

  The preacher said, "There are lots of ways to get to Heaven. You could pray to God and ask Him to forgive your sins. Or you could say you are sorry and ask for forgiveness. Or you could py His solo! You can py His music and follow His instructions!"

  The people cpped and said, "Yes, Lord!"

  The preacher said, "But don't py His music without knowing how to py it! Even if you heard the music for the first time in your life, you still have to learn to py it! If you don't know how to py the solo, you are just pying the devil's music!"

  The people cpped and said, "Yes, Lord!"

  The preacher said, "Now I'd like to hear a song from one of you. Who here wants to py my favorite solo?"

  A young man in the front row raised his hand. The preacher walked over to the young man and said, "Do you have a song for me?"

  "Yes, father. It's a 'Free Bird', from Lynyrd Skynyrd."

  "Oh, my God! You have my favorite song! Let's hear it!"

  The young man strummed his guitar and said, "Freebird!", and his guitar glowed. Then he began pying the intro riff to the song...

  "Freebird!", repeated the people, "Freebird!"

  Then the preacher walked over to the young man's mic stand and said, "Py it for me! Improvise! Show your free will! Make music!"

  The young man strummed his guitar and said, "Freebird! Freebird! Freebird!", and his guitar glowed brighter. Then he sang his own melody while pying the lead guitar solo. Audience cpped as he pyed...

  The preacher grabbed his mic and shouted over the top of the song. "You see? You have free will! You can py God's solo! Now try it! As a group, we can make music together! The devil cannot stop us now!"

  The people cpped as the young man strummed his guitar and said, "Freebird!", and his guitar glowed brighter than ever before... and then he pyed with the Devil's Demon's drumbeat...

  And then the preacher screamed, "You have free will!"

  And then he sang...

  ***