The Heartbeat Hums: a poetic re-interpretation of John 1:1-8

In the beginning:
there was music,
sound in time.

The heartbeat hummed,
and this heartbeat
grooved with God.

Steady faithful beat,
eternal harmony.

Have you heard the song?

Now the heartbeat is God
and God is the world’s heart. (verse 1)

In the beginning,
and without ending.

The heartbeat grooves with God and
gives the world it’s pulse. (verse 2)

The song moves.

Can you hear it?

Everything in the world,
Finds its rhythm
in the heartbeat.

No one finds a beat
without this pulse. (verse 3)

Life flows from the heartbeat,
Life goes- forming the rhythm
of every human soul. (verse 4)

Where apathy threatens rhythm,
The heartbeat resounds with life.
Vitality amplified
Death flatlined,
without notes. (verse 5)

Some can’t hear the song,
Others can’t sing enough.
The heartbeat keeps humming,
bouncing onto streets;
looping beat
near to hearts.
Life flows from the heartbeat,
Into open souls.
Those that hear and groove
with rhythm, friendship grows.
Restoring making whole.
The heartbeat surges
in human pulse. (verse 14)
He lived the rhythms of the heart:
Every offbeat
backbeat and
upbeat part.
He hummed soulful tunes and
graceful melodies.
The beat reverberates.
Can you hear the song?
Kids sipping hot chocolate
with tiny marshmallows,
joy and laughter ringing.
Homemade meals
for the homeless,
warm coats,
fresh socks, family.
The high school choir
at a nursing home,
smiling faces, tapping feet.
The empty seat,
left by the lost loved one,
covered in peace.
A quiet day at home
crackling fire,
Christmas carols,
nowhere else to be.
Difficult relationships,
finding forgiveness,
renewing intimacy.
The undocumented,
dying for a living,
treated justly,
birthing dignity.
Christmas tree with gifts underneath:
The surprised,
single mom
sits weeping.
A white man shovels his neighbor’s driveway,
The black man hands him freshly brewed coffee.
A baby cradled in your arms.
An infant lying in a manger
Immanuel, God with us
sound in time speaking.
Jesus is here. Living. The incarnation.
Can you hear the song?
Have you felt the groove? This pulsing love
Jesus is everywhere humming.