Before moving on from the dance analogy discussed last week, I wanted to share an important lesson I learned in a dance therapy class. I know, it sounds hokey. Regardless, I enrolled because I thought it would be good exercise and a fun respite from the other soul-searching lectures I’d been sitting through at a women’s conference years ago. They were edifying for sure, but I needed to move after hours of sitting and note-taking.
It was exercise all right, but not the kind I was expecting. Of all the presentations I’d heard by well-respected gurus of spirituality and wellness, that ‘hokey’ class left the most lasting impact. The instructor began with a series of flowing movements, but half way through the class, she instructed us to close our eyes and dance – no prescribed steps, just move to the music. I was paralyzed. I kept peeking to see what others were doing. I envied the freedom, agility, grace and beauty of their unique movements. I realized I had no idea how to move instinctively with the rhythm. I couldn’t even find my ‘rhythm.’
It was then that I discovered that my life-long ‘dance’ was being dictated by whoever was dancing across from me. I just mimicked their moves. That may (or may not) work on the dance floor, but not in life because we all have our own rhythm to honor. Until I found my rhythm AND, more importantly, the right partner, I was stumbling around, tone-deaf and blind. My futile attempts to follow the steps the world was imposing left me frustrated, exhausted and defeated.
It took decades, and choosing a new partner, to discover my own rhythm. When I finally chose to accept Christ’s invitation to join Him on the dance floor, He revealed the steps to the Divine dance that He ordained for me before I was even born. He was the Partner I’d needed all along.
When you’re dancing with someone, they are close enough to whisper in your ear, and that’s how you can determine when you’ve found the right partner. When I was dancing with the world, the whispers were never affirming. I spent years dancing with the devil, listening to his life-crushing lies, trying to keep up a pace that left me breathless.
Once I surrendered to Christ’s lead, my movements weren’t hesitant or jerky. We were gliding. Think Ginger and Fred. I COULD close my eyes and dance in the dark because I could trust Him completely to lead. It was like when I was little and would stand on my father’s feet while we danced. That’s what surrender feels like. I had finally stepped onto my Heavenly Father’s feet, peaceful in the safety of His arms regardless of what kind of dance He leads me through. I could breathe again. His gentle whispers in my ear are sustaining ones of love, mercy and grace. My Partner gives me the confidence to embrace and honor who I am because I’m secure in Whose I am.
Are you letting society define your steps and set the rhythm of your life? In quarantine, isolated from the mirror of the world, we are learning a new dance. All the prescribed ‘steps’ the world dictated no longer work in confinement. Maybe they weren’t working before either, but we never stopped long enough to notice. And many can’t stop now either.
For those juggling work, children, home-schooling, etc., life at the moment must feel like one long chicken dance with no pause for breath. Even amidst the craziness, they too are learning a new dance. However, those of us of a certain age who no longer have those responsibilities, quarantine has been a different experience. For me it’s been a time for quiet reflection. A time of being not doing. A time of stillness and listening before the music starts again.
Meredith Andrews has a song that reminds me of where I belong and where I need to get back to when I am spinning out of control. Something to consider as we begin to prepare for reentry.