I wonder if we might be in a time and a place where dancing may be our only way out – or better yet, our only way through. As a society, as the United Methodist Church, as individuals and families, many of us may be feeling stuck – almost paralyzed – by the trauma we are experiencing. COVID-19, long-overdue racial and economic reckonings, cultural divisiveness fueled by a spirit of winner-take-all politics, ever-intensifying extreme weather causing record-breaking destruction of habitat and lives...all these (especially together) are raising stress (and distress) levels for everyone!

Barbara DeAngelis, a counselor and consultant, has written, "The moment in between what you once were, and who you are now becoming, is where the dance of life really takes place." Friends, we know who we have been (or are at least discovering it in some new ways). Who we are now becoming is yet to be revealed. This is that in-between moment when we are invited to step out onto the floor of the Dance of Life. (No wallflowers at this party!) Now is the time we are called as Christians to give witness to the one we call the Lord of the Dance. We do this by loving courageously, sharing generously, and seeking to model compassion in everything we do.

Now I know that too many folks in our culture, dancing may seem to be only a trivial distraction or mere recreation. In many indigenous cultures dance is understood to have the power to impact and change the world. In Native American dance, for instance, outsiders may focus solely on the beauty and the pageantry; for those who participate, the dances signify and carry deep meaning about the world, the values of the people, and how they relate to the natural world as well as to one another.

In his book Clare: A Light in the Garden, Murray Bodo writes of how St. Francis of Assisi and Sister Clare understood their calling. He says it was their desire to "show the world its hidden heart." I hear such beauty in that phrase. They would live so that people would see in them what had been buried away and forgotten in people's lives: love of neighbor and compassion for the poor and forgotten ones.

What if you and I were to walk – DANCE! – in such a way that others, in seeing us, would be prompted to rediscover in themselves that place of compassion, humility, grace, and generosity of spirit? The choreography need not be complicated or over-rehearsed. It need only be marked by authenticity and freedom. Like Anne, we don't even have to have rhythm - the rhythm of God's mercy and love finds us. We only have to accept the invitation to get on our feet, make our way to the dance floor, and join in the dance that is already begun! What are we waiting for?

Pastor Derek