Life on the Offbeat

Offbeat can be when someone is not coinciding with the beat. It’s like when you are all clapping together to a song and there’s that one person who is just a step behind or just has no sense of rhythm, yet they are going for it… but very off. Offbeat is different from the ordinary, the usual, the expected. Someone who is offbeat is unconventional.

Life is offbeat right now, isn’t it? Everything we normally do has been interrupted. There’s been a change of rhythm and our routines have changed. There’s an underlying tension because of this unknown thing that has dramatically changed the way things have been. At the beginning of the year so many people we talking about how glad they were that 2019 was over and that 2020 would be a fresh new start. It was looking hopeful and people were excited. The economy was doing amazing, investments were up and unemployment was the lowest it had ever been. Then came the CoronaVirus. In a matter of days, a frenzy of Presidential briefings started happening, people began buying toilet paper, hand sanitizer, and bottles of water like they were planning on being isolated up for years. There was a palpable fear that wound its way throughout the fabric of our lives. 
Any time we find ourselves experiencing a dramatic shift in routine or a change in the rhythm of life, it trickles down to all of us in many ways and expressions. For many it causes irritability over small things – because there is this underlying fear about this big thing that we have no control over. So we overreact over small stupid stuff that we think we can control. We see people snapping at cashiers, fighting over toilet paper, road rage, being nasty on social media (which is a whole ‘nother deeper issue discussion), and exhibiting anger with family and friends. Our rhythm is off. We feel like we are clapping on the offbeat and it sounds wrong. We feel vulnerable and afraid because there is so much we don’t know. Conspiracy theories and accusations about those in government not doing enough fly around, fueling anxiety and causing even more fear. All those feelings that are being pulled to the surface are normal. And it is OK to feel afraid, nervous, and even negative. Your rhythm is off. You balance is off. Your routine has been changed. And that disruption filters down to all the areas of life.  

Truth is, we all are vulnerable. From the NBA player, to the politician, to the average Joe… there is this shared vulnerability that we are all fragile. We are all susceptible. And we feel those primal emotions — fear, stress, anxiety. Yet it is that shared vulnerability drawing us together as humans. The videos of the Italians singing from the apartment windows and the empty streets ring out with song cause us to smile with joy. When we see videos of acts of random kindness — of people leaving crazy tips for restaurant workers, of tables outside their homes loaded with supplies for people who need canned goods and fresh fruit or cleaning supplies, or that guy standing at an intersection handing out toilet paper — it make us shake our heads and smile at how awesome people can be. The spirit of generosity is … infectious. So, when we face those primal fears with love and serving others, suddenly we can turn the page. We get on beat again. Finding ourselves with extra time gives us space to create art, to compose music, to finish projects, to exercise our bodies, to read books, to build that app, to learn photography… yeah, the list goes on. We realize that we can serve others with an encouraging text, an uplifting FaceTime call, or a silly post on Facebook. Right now we are being forced to slow down, to change our pace. We connect with each other in times like these. Expressing that our vulnerability unifies us as human beings. 

Let’s send out prayers especially to those working in hospitals — the doctors, nurses and staff. I pray health and strength over them in these days. Give them wisdom and so much grace and patience. Let their hands be steady and legs be strong. I send prayers to those in our government who have to assess all this data and make these difficult decisions. From our President, to the CDC doctors, to the members of the various departments that are gathering supplies and readying hospital ships. I pray for the nations — especially Italy tonight. I pray mercy, grace, peace and hope even when all seems so dark.

I pray that we will be infusions of hope and light. That they will know we are christians… humans… by our love.