“You hum it, and I’ll play it.”

Last night, my daughters’ favorite person in the world–their music teacher–gives them a little mug that talks about being the kind of musician where “you hum it, and I’ll play it.” It’s a funny little line that sticks with me all morning.

You hum it, and I’ll play it.

I imagine this dialogue:

You know that song I’m forgetting that goes something like this? I hum it.

“Yeah, I know that one. It goes like this,” she plays it perfectly on the piano.

So many times in my life, I’ve forgotten the music to a song in my heart. So many times in my life, I’ve had bits and pieces of something beautiful, and I’ve needed someone to play the whole tune for me, to give me the whole story, to translate the language of my heart into the truth about God and who I am.

I think of hearing the music of the gospel and someone telling me what the song is–the one I’ve known but forgotten or know a bit of but can’t put down in words. And mostly I think of God listening to whatever I’m going on and on about in life. I can ask Him to tell me what my own heart wants to sing.

When I hum it, God plays it. He knows just how it goes.