Dance, dance wherever you may be

Dancing is an everyday part of many cultures; it's part of the soul of the people. I think it's an important part of Christian spirituality as well. Maybe not physically dancing, but experiencing life as dance.

I was practicing chanting with some people a few years ago. As they chanted, the stresses on particular syllables "The Lord is my Shepherd" became accents. I suggested, "Try dancing with the words. The syllables with stresses are just touch points where your feet barely touch the ground." The chanting changed as did the expressions on people's faces. The texts seem to come alive.

Each musical phrase has a shape to it. This may not be immediately evident to the listener, but when we hear it, we sense the music come alive for us.

The Christian journey, I think, is best when we dance it. We move along in God's creativeness, our "feet" touching down on the bedrock of faithfulness. Christians sing of the dance of life: "Dance, dance wherever you may be. I am the Lord of the dance, said he...."

Last year I visited Santa Monica, California, where I grew up, and I found myself driving by the studio where Mrs. Edith Newell Russell Sage taught ballroom dancing to a bunch of 5th and 6th graders so many years ago. As I remember it, we young dancers were rather ponderous in our movements, while Mrs. Sage and her son whirled easily around the dance floor. Maybe our initial dance steps in life's spirituality are ponderous as well, maybe even uncomfortable. When we get it, however, we sway and swirl. We're lighter on our feet. The dance doesn't have to be perfect, and we will touch some interesting spots.

Try dancing your faith. When we dance with Christ, we will certainly "come down where we ought to be."