I found the lyrics to Steven Curtis Chapman's "Heartbeat of Heaven" in several places, notably at his own web site. Cool! It's a great song ... lyrically, musically, ... theologically.
Loving, joyful, peaceful, patient
Kind and good and full of faith
Self-controlled and gentle
Oh the heart of heaven beats this way
The fruit of the Spirit; scripture in song. I love this stuff. Galatians 5:22,23 on CD ... and on the web. Then to the following verse, many of us can relate directly. For me, another brush happened this past Friday.
I pulled up to the stop sign and I saw him standing there
The cardboard sign he held said he was hungry
I looked the other way and waited for the light to change
As if to say, I'd help but I'm in such a hurry
These are the moments of truth
What would love have me do
There was a man I had seen before standing at an intersection near my office, the corner of the Wendy's lot, taking handouts as they were given. Last time I saw him, weeks ago, I looped around with the intention of offering him a burger. But he was gone. This time, I just drove on back to the office.
Oh, heartbeat of heaven, I want you to be my own
Oh, heartbeat of heaven, I want my life to show
The kind of love that comes and goes
With the heartbeat of heaven
When I saw the beggar again, this song came to mind. I'm a musically driven guy (and very emotive), and this piece hits home ... er, uh ... "resonates" with me.
I know at times this heart of mine beats only for itself
Full of thoughts and dreams, plans and problems
But this heart beating here in me belongs to someone else
He bought it with His life to show His love
This is my prayer, Lord, today
Let this heart beat away
The "thoughts and dreams / plans and problems" part has invaded my focus lately. I have a good job and comfortable home, but what of my daily effort matters for eternity? Too little. It's hard to believe that God bought my salvation with His own life. And why? To show His love. Wow.
Oh, heartbeat of heaven, I want you to be my own
Oh, heartbeat of heaven, I want my life to show
The kind of love that comes and goes
With the heartbeat of heaven
When we were visiting New York City years ago, I had lunch with my sister and my parents. In front of the place was a man asking for a handout, so my sister went back into the restaurant and bought him some fries. As I recall, he slapped them out of her hand. (Guessing he didn't really want to eat as much as something else. Who knows?) This fosters my skepticism. Thankfully, God continues to provide us food, and something way better, even after we reject Him. It's pretty humbling.
Some people are in truly dire straits. I KNOW that, so I'm not slamming the homeless. I'm simply using this journal as a place to express embarrassment at my own bad attitude.
Loving, joyful, peaceful, patient
Kind and good and full of faith
Self-controlled and gentle
Oh the heart of heaven beats this way
Mr. Chapman and his team were kind enough to put the complete lyrics on his web site. There's a sample of the tune too. It's good! Probably could have made the point with only part of that text, but could not bring myself to cut any of it.
Oh, heartbeat of heaven, I want you to be my own
Oh, heartbeat of heaven, I want my life to show
Oh, heartbeat of heaven, I want you to be my own
Oh, heartbeat of heaven, I want my life, I want my life to show
http://www.stevencurtischapman.com/node/341
-- R; <><
