Greetings to you! How are you doing today? In this eighth month of the year, to mix things up a bit, I thought that we could take the time to reflect upon some of the writings of St. Augustine. Since the first six letters of his name spell out this month and his feast day is on the 28th it seems fitting that we would spend a little time with this Doctor of the Church.
Over the course of the next four weeks we’ll take a look at some quotes and poems that are ascribed to him. Hopefully it will help you to have a better sense of his life and his friendship with the Lord. The first work is a lesser known poem called, “In Praise of Dancing”:
I praise the dance, for it frees people from the heaviness of matter and binds the isolated to community. I praise the dance, which demands everything: health and a clear spirit and a buoyant soul.
Dance is a transformation of space, of time, of people, who are in constant danger of becoming all brain, will, or feeling.
Dancing demands a whole person, one who is firmly anchored in the center of his life, who is not obsessed by lust for people and things and the demon of isolation in his own ego.
Dancing demands a freed person, one who vibrates with the balance of all his powers. I praise the dance. O man, learn to dance, or else the angels in heaven will not know what to do with you.
I would not normally associate St. Augustine with dancing but there is a biblical foundation for glorifying the Lord through sacred dance (Ecclesiastes 3:4, 2 Samuel 6:14-17 Psalm 149:3-4). In the dance of life may we praise God in accordance with the rhythm of His Divine Will.
