Word Jazz
5-21-06, Sausalito Presbyterian
By Jim Burklo
In the beginning was the Word
W-O-R-D
And the Word was with God
And the Word was God
And the Word is the bird
That Jesus talked about
When he pointed at the bird
In his Sermon on the Mount
The birds of the air
Don’t store in the barns
The birds, they never worry
So don’t you ever fret
Except against the strings
Of a guitar’s fretted neck
Or you’re gonna be a wreck
Wracked with anxiety
That you just don’t need
In heaven’s reality
That you are gonna see
When you listen for the Word
In the singing of the bird
That the Almighty feeds
Day by day, while you pray
And say hey, Dear God
In your beginning was the Word
And like a winging bird
I’m feeling free
In the awesome presence
Of your eternity.
But we languish in expectation
Oppressed with the domination
That we must conform to the cogitation
That it’s cool to suffer from alienation
Floating adrift in inebriation
When we ought to be claiming your liberation
From fear and greed and discrimination
Oh the misery of comparing one to another
The wrongful judgment of sisters against brothers
Husband against wife
All that family strife
To all of that the Word is NO!
All that jive has got to go
Over the cliff where Jesus sent the hogs
Out of the eyes where he took out the logs
Out of the ears where he pulled out the mud
Off the cross where he shed all the blood.
The Word, the Word, the Word is YES
To all that for hearts and souls is best
Trust and faith and hope and grace
Belief in the future of the human race
The Word
W-O-R-D
Whispered again to you and me
Can you hear it? Can you feel it?
Can you start to catch the beat?
Can you stand to feel the heat?
Can you sense the buzz about it
That is spreading on the street?
Are you hip to the Word
The still small silent Word?
The Word insinuated in the coolness of a cat
Who shows a brother kindness
Even when he plays the brat?
The Word that changes spelling
The Word that keeps on telling
The Word that’s still upwelling
From the depths of this and that
From the hearts of you and me
When we finally start to see
That the package that we bought
Was completely full of rot
That the only way to get it is to give up all we thought
That the way to find abundance is to share all that we’ve got
That the way to change the System is to blow ‘em all away
With the love in our intentions and the truth in what we say
The Word, the Word, W-O-R-D
The ultimate cosmic graffiti
The Alpha, Omega, beginning and the stop
I’m prayin’ and I’m preachin’ till I finally gotta drop
The Word, W-O-R-D
The Word is the sound of the tables Jesus turned
Dumping all the money for the sacrifices burned
Dumping all the lies of the powers that be
They say that freedom’s precious but they give us tyranny
Is the Word really heard when they tap our telephones
Can they hear the wails and moans
Of the mothers of Iraq
And the inner city blacks
And the millions uninsured
To whose plight we’re so inured
Are we listening
To the W-O-R-D
That’s the ultimate verbal authority
Structuring our moral integrity
Giving us the spine
To stand for what’s divine
And do the thing that’s kind
Kind, kind.
Let’s just be kind.
And patient.
And humble.
And sweet.
And bold!
And free!
And Whee!
The creativity!
The serendipity!
Of knowing you and me
Express divinity!
Oh yeah! W-O-R-D –
I hear you in the forest
Behind a redwood tree
I hear you in the waves
That are crashing in the sea
I hear you, I hear you,
Speaking soft to me
Peace
Truth
Forgiveness
Acceptance
Courage
Are you still speaking?
Am I still listening?
Is there more, more, more, more
More you have to say
Can I bear to really hear
That I’m nowhere nearly near?
My ears burn, my feet are sore
My eyes sting, my fingers ache
I can’t type another
W-O-R-D
It’s so absurd
But you are the Word
And there’s more, yes more
More in store
Resonations, conflagrations,
Inhalations, excitations,
Inspirations, exclamations
I’m ready, I’m birdlike
I’m barnless,
I’m as hollow as a swallow
I’m as pinched as a finch
I’m as slow as a crow
Eager as an eagle
Un-uptight as a goose in flight
I’m a bird, God,
I’m your bird, Word,
I’m ready, Lord,
W-O-R-D
O let me be
All yours.
Amen.