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| DANCING |
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6:13 And it was [so], that when they that bare the ark of the LORD had gone six paces, he sacrificed oxen and fatlings. 6:14 And David danced before the LORD with all [his] might; and David [was] girded with a linen ephod. 6:15 So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet.
I always wanted to dance, but I never learned. There was never time. Or reason. No one ever actually said it was evil, but it was something other folks did. Not us. It served no practical value, and somehow always got associated with drinking too much and making unexpected babies. Those family rebels who dared a beer and a two-step at the occasional "Catholic wedding" drew glares and tisks and sighs of speculation as to their moral character and eternal disposition, but mostly folks just didn't care to look foolish. Or feel foolish. I remember trying it a couple times, with a cousin or a friend who happened to be a girl. I remember the hot cheeks and the empty ache in the pit of my stomach from the stares and the laughter, both real and imagined. Strong deterrance for a less than graceful farmboy. Not many eight year-olds are willing to risk ostracism or ridicule for the chance to stumble over their socks on the gradeschool gym-floor. Still it hung out there like some forbidden fruit. Calling. My parents didn't dance. My relatives didn't dance. My friends didn't dance, except for Keith, whose mother was "weird" and made him take tap. I always felt guilty for not defending him, or telling him how cool I really thought it was. There's something tragic about a whole community that forgets how to feel joy and passion and music in their bodies and souls. I don't think its just fear of seeming foolish or frivilous or "loose". I think there's a deeper fear, of feeling anything with abandon. And yet, I think I'm afraid of something even worse...that somehow the spirit might eventually grow to be as self-conscious and clumsy and afraid as the body. I've learned some moves for a couple plays I've been in. Functional movement with music, but nothing graceful. Friends have encouraged, but it still feels more like lumbering about more or less rythmically and hoping I don't hurt anyone. A lot like what usually passes for dancing to rock and roll at weddings since the seventies. I saw some kids dancing at a church not too long ago. It was different. There was a passion and a movement and an abandon that was wild and unfettered. It wasn't about grace, but it was about GRACE. It was power and war and agreement with a battle cry that was setting their souls trembling. It was wild joy and passionate love and holy rage screaming the walls down all rolled up together. I knew that sound. I knew it intimately, immediately. It was like some long-forgotten song that came flooding back to consciousness. Something unspeakable gets stirred up. An overwhelming power. A terrifying good. I think I may learn to dance after all. |
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| To add a comment to "DANCING" |
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| October 20, 2007 |
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Don.....
Let me tell you, go ahead and join in with the party. You said a mouthful right here, "It wasn't about grace, but it was about GRACE." That's it. I'm telling you, when you finally let go and let God, when you finally let loose and allow the Holy Spirit to dance with you, you will never, ever stop dancing again.
Please give me a hollar back.... after that first dance.
Pastor Aminata |
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| October 20, 2007 |
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| Beautiful Don!! I don't know how to dance either, but honestly, reading this I think that I might like to give it a try! (Don't know if that was your intention, but it sure was the effect.) God bless! ~mike |
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| October 20, 2007 |
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Thanks for the encouragement, Pastor Amanita. Actually, from time to time, but not nearly as often as I would like, I do find myself in places--physically and spiritually--where I am free to worship with radical abandon. This is one of my passions. I am WIRED as a worshipper. And I am obsessed with the Presence of God. Actual dance, however, remains a challenge. I do so, or try, but like I said, I need to depend on it being about GRACE and not necessarily grace. And then, maybe for me it also has to do with an interplay between worship and warfare.
Mike: GO FOR IT, BRO! |
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| October 20, 2007 |
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| Me either, on that count. Especially the ever watchful oversight from the Sisters of Our Lady of Perpetual Consternation! |
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| October 21, 2007 |
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| Awesome! Then you should be able to dance circles around the rest of us ;o<)- |
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| December 17, 2007 |
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| So, are you dancing yet? |
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| December 17, 2007 |
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Oh yeah! |
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| December 17, 2007 |
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He has turned my weeping into dancing Psalms 30:11
I imagine just as a joyful noise is music to Him....two left foot dancing is probably a most beautiful and welcomed site!! He is Good, and so full of love towards us....isn't it grand?
It's the Good News!!!! |
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| December 17, 2007 |
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| That's right. And it doesn't have to be graceful to be GRACE full. But abandon in worship... and warfare ...are amazing in the Spirit. I don't imagine Miriam's victory/praise on the shores of the Red Sea was restrained or dignified, what with soldiers and horses and chariots floating in the surf? |
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| December 17, 2007 |
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| Dancing is my happy place. I've played instruments since I was 3 (my sister gave me my first piano lesson). I started leading worship at 13 (clarinet in the Melodiers at Chico Neighborhood Church). For me when I feel a beat (which everyone does to any music), I'm worshiping. When I'm on a dance floor, I get to worship! I like East Coast Swing the best. |
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| December 17, 2007 |
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| That's cool. I like it. Swing as worship. And it definitely fits the bill for dancing with all your might. I remember when my oldest daughter was younger we took a bunch of kids from here to the big JPUSA festival held every summer in central Illinois. At that time there were a number of Christian bands experimenting with jazz/swing and ska. They were great! |
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