It's No Fun Dancing Alone...

You probably need to know that I love music but have never been able to connect my music ear to the rest of my physical body and get it to move in rhythm on a dance floor. As a matter of fact, it doesn't take even one hand to count the number of times I've danced: a couple of dances at friends' weddings, and a very emotional dance last spring with my son's new bride at their wedding reception. All of which makes the following story even more remarkable.

Earlier this fall my wife forwarded an email to me from a friend, talking about some waltz dance lessons coming up at a local dance studio. They were really kidding around, but I put the double dare down on them, and before you knew it, my wife and I and three other couples had signed up for six weeks of lessons. That will teach them to dare me!

I had to miss last week's class because of my Catalyst trip, and tonight my wife had to be absent due to an unexpected business trip. We agreed that I should go, to learn the new steps from last week and keep in practice so I could teach her. As it turns out, the step we learned last week, the under arm turn, is easy for the guy: lift your left hand as a cue for your partner to do a turn on her own, then move back together. Okay, I've got that part - now I've got to teach her the turn part!

Even though I know three other couples, and we always switch partners at least 3 or 4 times during the class, it's just not the same. When you've traveled together for almost 29 years, it's no fun dancing alone. I can't wait to teach my wife the new step, and then keep dancing away!

A final thought was spurred by our instructor: she said we needed to hear and feel the beat of the music, and to move rhythmically together. That brought to mind one of my favorite passages of Scripture from Ephesians 4, and a perfect end to a day in the life of disciple seeking to use the gifts God has given me:

He handed out gifts..., working withing Christ's body, the church, until we're all moving rhythmically and easily with each other, efficient and graceful in response to God's Son, fully mature adults, fully developed within and without, fully alive in Christ.

With Christ, we never dance alone!