Put on Your Dancing Shoes

Recently,  I went dancing.  A late 70s/early 80s era Jukebox from a nearby Pizza Hut cranked out tunes on the 45 player.  I can’t remember the last time I had that much fun.  Of course, oldies but goodies filled the machine.  Songs like “Crazy” by Patsy Cline, “I Will Always Love You” by Dolly Parton, and “Unchained Melody”  by the Righteous Brothers rolled out into the evening.  Best of all, “Dancing Queen” by Abba stirred memories of ye olden days.

Whenever the stressors of full course loads and part-time jobs overcame us, grad school classmates danced away our woes.  Picture a motley crew of seminarians jumping up and down in time with those golden sounds.   Can you imagine?  I seem to remember some of us climbing trees and swinging on the playground.   Some days, I wish we could recreate those kinds of releasing, refreshing moments for an hour or two.  Parish life calls us to reality.

As for dancing in the Bible, despite the church-teaching in the movie “Footloose” and in many congregations of my youth or childhood, it’s in there and it is good.  Dancing is a form of worship and of praise. 

• Psalm 150: 4 — Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe!
• Ecclesiastes 3:4 — a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance
• Jeremiah 31:13 —  Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old shall be merry. I will turn their mourning into joy, I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.
• Psalm 30: 1 — You have turned my mourning into dancing; you have taken off my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,
• 2 Samuel 6; 1 Chronicles 13, 15 —  King David goes dancing with wild abandon as he leads the ark of the covenant.

How I wish I could dance well!  My mother gave it her best effort.  Tap and ballet classes were all opportunities afforded me by my parents.  I still remember positions 1 and  5 and how to do a plie.  My progression in dancing skills didn’t advance past 1985.    Trust me.

Some years ago, I stumbled upon a wonderful compilation of songs that, for the most part, make me want to dance.  If I need to clean house or rock out some chores that don’t need clear thought, I’ll crank up the volume and jam to “I’m Every Woman” and “If You Could Read My Mind.”  For boldness, there is “I Will Survive” and “I Am What I Am.”   And for those other times, “It’s Raining Men” and “Finally” turn tears into laughter.

What are your dancing songs?