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Chip Shots from the Ruff of Life
by Tom Kelley
Rhythm. It’s that funny word made up of six consonants that determines the flow of music. Without rhythm one person might be able to sing a song, but add a couple more people and you would probably have a song more like alley cats yowling from the back fence. Rhythm is what makes a melody come to life and harmony come together. It is the very essence of music for it is that which primitive man could determine just by tapping a foot or slapping his side.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
Professional athletes will tell there is a rhythm to athletic endeavors as well. Baseball players get into a rhythm hitting a baseball. Quarterbacks get into a rhythm throwing the football. Basketball players get into a rhythm with their shooting stroke. Golfers, bowlers, tennis players, gymnasts; you name the sport and there is a rhythm to it. Work has a rhythm also. In fact, pretty much every facet of life has a rhythm that affects not just the way things happen, but sometimes if they even happen at all.
When life’s rhythm is affected life’s production is altered. In other words, mess up your rhythm of life and you lose a lot of the enjoyment and your personal effectiveness. Personally, this week has been a rhythm killer. With all that has been going on this week it seems like nothing is meshing the way it normally does. The regular flow of my world, my rhythm, is just a bit off beat. When that happens I have to adjust not just the way I do things but also some of what I do.
That rhythm is what keeps me from accomplishing the extras that I have in my life, like this column. The extraneous matters of my life become time drainers and, you guessed it, rhythm killers. I have found that when my rhythm starts to skip a beat and then just get really erratic, the thing for me to do is take a step back and ask why. Why am I not feeling the rhythm of my life the way I normally should. The answer lies in something very simple. It lies in my focus on the Christ of Calvary.
“He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks. For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living.” Romans 14:6,8, 9 Basic “Life In Christ 101.” Do all you do to the Lord and the rhythm returns.
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...He was the Minister of the Minorsville Christian Church located near Stamping Ground, KY.
...Becky and Tom have three children; John, single and in worship ministry in Nicholasville, Kentucky; Sean, married (Jennifer, elementary school teacher) with twins (Grace and Patrick, b.d. 10/31/04) and regional director of Papa John's Pizza in Central KY; Kara, married (Vince Taylor, prison guard) and working with Hospice East in Winchester, KY.
...Tom went to be with the Lord on November 13, 2009 after a lengthy battle with cancer. If you have been touched by Tom's writings please send an email to Tom's son at jkelley@catalystchristian.net
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