A daily dance

It never fails that when I go to get out of the car, my purse strap tangles on the gear shift or gets caught on the seat lever. When I use my earphones, even though I have carefully wound them so as to undo easily the next time, they get tangled.

This is the third attempt at writing this post, which started as “the persistence of Life.”  I had begun by reflecting on the scripture in Job “Yet man is born unto trouble as the sparks fly upward.”  Job 5:7. Seems like the older I get the truer this rings. It’s the little things that make me sigh; making me feel, “old and tired.” I have difficulties keeping a positive attitude on a daily basis. I don’t know about you, but I have to remind myself to look for the good. I have to spend much time in prayer, throughout the day to keep a modicum of godly perspective. I’m not given to daily piety as in having a set “quiet time” in the morning; LORD knows I have tried, but this particular discipline has escaped me all these many years.  I even tried doing an evening quiet time, but that waned. My life in Christ is more of a daily dance with changing rhythms and a running conversation.  

Almost three years ago I wrote a post called “Radically Thankful.” (This & $2.50 – November 2011) In that post I wrote about being thankful when I was stuck in traffic, because I had a place to go; had to wait in the line at the store, because I was healthy enough to be out in public and money to buy things; when I burnt my fingers with hot water, because I had oil in the tank and a furnace that worked. I’m not there yet (being radically thankful), for certain.

Where I am at, is being okay with dancing daily on a moment by moment basis, carrying on the conversation my beloved dance partner. It’s pretty easy to be self-condemning when I fall short of the mark and stumble, however life’s not meant to be perfect, a fact I have to remind myself of - I am a work in progress. So long as I don’t let go of my beloved’s hand or end the conversation I can continue to dance through the sparks.

 One last thought, another scripture I am fond of is Matthew 6:34 “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” I attended a wedding many years ago that had a live band at the reception. The father of the groom was an excellent dancer and asked if I would dance, little did I foresee what would happen when I accepted.  The dance began very orderly; we went back & forth across the floor as I learned how to follow his lead. A slight pressure to one hand told me a change of direction; a subtle turn of his body told me a change of step. We began to move in unison, at which time the band caught on and began to change the tempo. The movements became faster and more complex, I had to focus on the cues to remain on my feet as we spun and reeled across the floor, I could no longer focus on what was coming next.  Little did I know when I accepted the call of Christ on my life the tempo would change as we danced in closer unison. 

Life is a dance and some days are fox trots while others are slow, closely held dances. Whatever dance you are dancing, hold tight to your beloved’s hand, hear what HE says, don’t think about what’s coming and dance through the sparks for that is what you were born for.