May 4, 2025
It could have been at the coaxing of the first mild, peaceful spring night. Its soft breezes and lingering sunlight might have redeemed me from the scars of winter.
A nearby high school was holding a dance. The music pulsated throughout the neighborhood like the heartbeat of an excited giant. Any hope of a peaceful evening died with the first note. Yes, I had succumbed to the old person’s complaint that I so derided in my own youth: “They call THAT music?!”
But eventually, I stopped resisting the thrumping bass and let myself imagine the joyful young dancers perfectly liberated within their chosen music.
What a great gift it is to dance, to have reason to dance, to have someone to dance with!
Do you remember the dances of your early years: girls and boys huddled along opposite walls around a vacant dance floor? Remember the furtive glances across that chasm to assess who might be brave enough to enter the music with you? And then somehow, the invitation was given, the possibility embraced, and we gave ourselves to the song.
The music of life is playing all around us. But we may be lingering at the edge of the great song of Creation. Standing in the middle of the dance floor, God looks at each of us and beckons us to step into the melody.
Music: I Hope You Dance – Lee Ann Womack
For Your Reflection
- What feelings or reactions do I have after reading this reflection?
- Do my feelings or reactions remind me of any passage or event in scripture, especially in the life of Christ?
- What actions might I take today because of my response to these readings?
Lavish Mercy 
I remember those dances indeed. I mean, the standing on opposite sides of the room, hoping a boy would have the courage to come ask me to dance!
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