Saturday, March 26, 2016

Shall we Dance, Do the Dance, Observe the Dance




What comes to mind when you hear the word dance?  For most of us I’m sure there are many images.  For some it is being filled with fear or reluctance.  But I have always been a fan of great dancing.

One of the earliest memories I have is of Yul Brynner and Debra Kerr in the King and I with the song “Shall We Dance?”

And then I fell in love watching the dancing you would see on the Lawrence Welk show when my parents would watch this.  I was envious of the colored matching tillies the girls had.  They matched their dresses perfectly.  I thought that was awesome. 

When I would go to bed and I would be wearing a long nightgown, I would add a belt and it would be my ball gown.  And I would dance.  Now I had to do this carefully because my bedroom was directly over my parent’s room.  I would need to dance with light steps.  ;)

My dad loved to dance.  He and mom would do so weekly before they were married and after until children came along.  And then when Dad was in a good mood and the tunes (quite often polka music) came on he would move his feet.  When I was a kid, it was common for couples celebrating a particular anniversary to host a dance.  I loved watching them.  

When I was a senior in high school I played Cinderella in the musical.  My “prince” and I had a scene where we danced excitedly around the room to a “Polka” tune.  We were to knock things over as we did so and believe me – that was never a problem.  No I have never had the pleasure of dancing with grace and beauty.  

You may have heard the term “Do the Dance” and it usually refers to people negotiating for something in which they both usually know how it will turn out and for what price but they go through the usual steps of negotiating anyway.  

And then in the movie “Home”, one of my favorite scenes is Oh discovering what dancing is.

But last night I observed, participated in and was blessed by a dance like no other at Hillspring Church.  We came together, we prayed, we confessed our sins, we celebrated what Christ did for us and then we danced.  No, we did not literally dance but I’ll tell you why I say that.  There were four stations set up for ministry staff to wash our feet, after which we would partake in communion.  We could then return to our seats.  This is when I reflected, I prayed and I observed.  No words were spoken, no songs were sung, but each person proceeded forward in their time to have their feet washed, they received communion and each of the staff were blessed to have someone wash their feet as well.  This was planned, it wasn’t specified, but the choreography was beautiful.  The choreographer, I believe, was the Holy Spirit. 


It is humbling to sit down and allow someone to wash your feet.  We are to serve and for me that is where I am most comfortable.  To be served, even in this simple but humbling way, takes courage and effort.  Christ knew exactly what we did and do need.  May you experience this service so you can be a better servant.  We will continue to Serve Him Together (wherever we may be)

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