Name: Linda
Saturday, September 16, 2006
The Dancer
Dancing with Aunt SuzieI love to dance. I have so many pictures of myself as a little girl twirling around. My parents even have home movies of my “dance moves”. My mother naturally assumed I would love ballet lessons, and I know in my heart I would have. I was so painfully shy, though, that I just cried and wanted to go home (my reaction to kindergarten as well – my Mom saved my crumpled little handkerchief to prove it). I did, however, continue to dance – in the living room, in my bedroom, in the backyard.
When I got to junior high, my best friend Christine introduced me to rock and roll, and I was off and running. My Dad allowed me to go to the school dances (a very brave move for a deacon in the Baptist Church – defying the powers that be), and I had a ball. I continued to leap and pirouette around the house to the music I loved – the scores from West Side Story and My Fair Lady and Camelot and South Pacific.
As the years rolled by, the occasions for dancing became less and less frequent, until the only dancing I did was in aerobics class. Every once in a while I’d dance around the house with the kids – until they sort of outgrew Mom’s silliness.
Imagine my delight when we began to attend a church where –of all the amazing things – dance was part of worship. I couldn’t believe my eyes!! How I wished I were twenty years younger. We even had a ballet troupe come and perform a beautiful ballet based on a story from the Bible. I was just entranced.
I am so glad the church is taking back the Arts – bringing them back to the place where they began. When done to bring honor and glory to the Lord, they take on a special grace and beauty. This past Christmas a group of young girls danced to some of the songs the choir sang. It was magic. They were so graceful – so beautiful. In my heart I was right there with them. I couldn’t take my eyes off them.
Lord, I am so glad that the things that make my heart sing delight Your heart as well. Thank You for music and the written word and acting and dancing. Thank You for gracing our lives with beauty.
Blessings,
Linda
6 Comments:
Linda, I love to dance too, although my arthritis keeps me from doing it as much as I'd like and from being as graceful at it as I used to be.
And I am Southern Baptist...some of them still are hard against dancing, but I've always said, what then do they do with David and many others who danced for God in worship???
Have a good weekend, friend. :-)
You made me smile all the way through this. How I wish our church had not frowned on dancing, too, when I was growing up. I love to watch people dance and someday I'm going to take ballroom dancing lessons.
My Mom truly loved to dance. In her final days she talked about dancing the night away. I can visualize her that way (dancing in heaven)...
Loved the picture of you as a little girl!
What a darling picture of you as a little girl dancing with your Auntie, Linda. You and I definitely share a passion for dance and music. It is nice to see the churches lighten up, and bring dance back to worship. As far back as I can remember, my relatives have loved to dance and where there's three or more singing and praising the Lord with music gathered, it pleases God.
What a sweet picture. How cool you found a church where dancing is part of worship. We have the same thing at our church. I looove to dance too. I grew up in a no-dancing church. I never understood that. Thankfully I was attending somewhere else by the time I got married and we had music music music - people danced till they dropped, literally! So much fun. Unfortunately I married a non-dancer . . . but my dad likes to polka :)
I have always loved to dance, too, and I also think it's sad that that seems to decrease in our lives as we get older. Great picture, Linda.
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