“Dancing in Line at the PO”

         The woman in front of me in the line at the post office today was dancing. Nothing exuberant or in need of attention, just a few steps, kick ball change, side to side, a slight sway from hip to hip, it was nice to be behind someone so at ease with herself, so unconcerned that others were watching. And as I stepped back to give her more room, I thought, I used to dance more.

         Sometimes on my run, if a particularly enjoyable tune appeared on my playlist, I would stop and make a few moves but there was no one else on the trail but me and my dog; and she never seemed to mind. I dance with my colleague in the office occasionally; we have a history of dancing together. And I always dance at the camp I lead in the summer. That’s the best time, in fact, sharing the floor with campers and other volunteers, all of us tearing it up like teenagers. But, truth be told, that’s really all the dancing I do anymore.

         I think most people are not that comfortable with dancing in public. Most of us, as we age, put those sort of moments aside, lose our drive or our willingness, maybe even a bit of muscle tone; and we forget what it is to let music, or even the memory of music, move us. Like so many things from our youth, we give up the dance.

         But maybe that’s not good or right. Maybe that’s a sign of a dying soul, a closing of the door to the Spirit. After all, St. Augustine wrote,

"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 her 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 exquisite poise of all her powers.

I praise the dance. O human, learn to dance,

or else the angels in heaven will not know what to do with you."

         So, maybe in this holiday season I’ll let the angels have a better idea of what to do with me. Maybe I’ll let go of my obsessions and the demon of isolation. Maybe I’ll vibrate with exquisite poise I didn’t even know I had. Maybe, the next time I stand in line somewhere I might take a note from the woman in the post office. A little shuffle from side to side, a few kick ball changes; and maybe the world, or at the very least, my spirit will feel a little freer. And who knows? Maybe the queue to wait suddenly becomes an unexpected dance line for us all.

You are the light of the world!

Warmly,

Lynne

Cancelled this week due to illness:

Service of Lament, Thursdays at Noon

First Presbyterian Church Chapel (Park on North side of Church)

215 Locust Street NE

Albuquerque, NM 87102