I am fascinated and intrigued by dancers. The amount of time and preparation it takes to put a group of 10 dancers on a stage, choreographed months in advance, so that they can move with grace and fluidity far beyond the measure of normal man. These dancers, they move with singular purpose, united in vision, focused on delivering a stunning visual display that ignites the strongest emotions in the audience.
We applaud.
We cheer.
We whistle.
What about when they get out of synch? Or if one of the dancers slips and falls. A collective gasp emitting from the whole of the audience, waiting with bated breath to see how he or she will respond. Will they continue, or will the show cease midway and fall desperately, collapsing into failure.
Oh, how much more complicated are our lives!
Today is a day for questions with no answers, I think, because the answers are those that cannot be defined in generalities, the answers must be specific to each individual dancer in our production called life.
There are hundreds of dancers who pass through the stage of my daily journey, and yours too. Some are professionally trained, some are not. Each has their own set of expectations and beliefs, a unique and varied skill set and, often with no vision to unite us, we dance.
It can be chaos, beautiful chaos. There are moments of unity, moments of focus and clarity, and yet they pass so quickly it seems they are only the shadow of a memory of a hope once longed for, and the dance continues. The music continues as we pass in and out of the presence of one another.
So what is it that I wear as a burden on this day? It is that delicate balance and how easy it is to fall. With only the tip of a toe on the ground, or twirling leaps happening in such close proximity to one another: What was once beautiful can become a beautiful disaster. It is such a delicate balance.
And how are we doing, as a community of faith from immediate family, to the closest circle of our friends, to the church body, to the greater church, and the world beyond?
Am I handling this dance with the grace and poise of a master dancer on the floor of life. Carried with the delicacy and care of a fragile flower? Or do I plow forward, dancing through life like a linebacker in slippers?
I confess, some days I am graceful, others I am a linebacker in the dance of this life.
Forgive me Father where I have sinned and come so far short than your desire for my heart and the heart of those around me.
I ask for Your grace for today, your poise for today, your strength for today.
Help me to let go of those things that are yours alone to carry
…and help me up when I fall.
AT
James 4
7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
