The Syncopated Beat. . .

In music, syncopation refers to rhythms which are in some way unexpected, resulting in an off-beat tune to the piece of music.  Basically, it is a disturbance in the regular rhythm of the song, or accents where they wouldn't normally occur.

Lest you assume syncopation occurs only in modern music, let me assure you it is not only found in ragtime, jazz, blues, funk, reggae  rock and samba, but was also used by composers such as Bach, Handel, Mozart, Beethoven and Haydn.

Syncopation can also occur when a strong harmony element is placed on a weak beat.  I use this technique sometimes when I sing with my husband.  In fact, one of his favorite choruses to sing, "I've Got the Joy, Joy, Joy Down in My Heart" is his favorite expressly because of my syncopated harmony.

I guess to me the syncopation comes naturally.  I can remember my sister telling me decades ago, "You are such a non-conformist!" 

She was right, I don't like things to be a certain way just because they have always been  that way.  If there is a good and valid reason for it, that's fine, but if not, then I am just as likely to go the other way.

I've always liked being a little different, a little unexpected, a little "off-beat" from the rest of the song around me.  As predictable as I am, every now and then I like to do something totally unpredictable.  Which may explain why I changed my hair color two years ago.

Having a wife, mother, sister or friend who is a little "syncopated" is not necessarily a bad thing (I hope), but it would be a terrible thing if our God was like that.  Thankfully, we have a God who is never "off-beat."  He is always perfectly consistent with His character and His purpose.  He is  "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever," (Hebrews 13:8.)

Isn't it wonderful to know in this ever-changing world in which we exist, that the Lord in which we trust is never-changing?  He will always be in the future what He is today and what He has been in the past.  And what is that?  Faithful and True.

Hebrews 1: 10-12

"And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; 

and the heavens are the works of Thine hands:  They shall perish; but Thou remainest; 

and they all shall wax old as doth a garment; And as a vesture shalt Thou fold them up, 

and they shall be changed: but Thou art the same, and Thy years shall not fail."