Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Dancing through life...

The Bible lists instances of God's people dancing. The most famous, I suppose, would be David dancing in front of the Ark of the Covenant...reading the description, he danced with joy and with abandon! In fact, he danced with so much abandon that one of his wives got really upset about it. But David didn't care what she thought, he had a need to worship the Lord with his body and followed through.

I know this song is an allegory of Jesus moving through his life, but the more I thought, it is an appropriate one. Why shouldn't our lives be seen as a dance? Not all of the movements will be happy but they won't all be sad either. If we dance through life, we have to be active participants. We cannot just sit passively and let life go by...We have to be moving!

One Sunday, about 3 years ago, my grandson (who is now 7) heard it. I'm sure most of you know how much attention a 4 year old pays to most hymns. Suddenly he was up... swaying to the music...and then dancing in the pew! He was following his heart and the words he was hearing. He wasn't constrained by what he thought the others expected of him. He was worshiping the Lord in one of the only ways he knew...and he didn't care who saw. That day I learned about praising God from a child. We are called to praise Him with our entire being, and as the Spirit moves us. Even though I am (yikes!) middle aged, I have finally learned that worship and dignity don't always go hand in hand!

Today I just felt the need to listen again...

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