They dance for Him

I walked into the outdoor theater with the sun blazing hot, worried that I might be late. I wasn't. I sat down, Michele and Tutu were across the aisle, a couple of rows down. I didn't see anyone else I knew. I was alone. I was feeling lonely. I was wishing Karyn could be sitting there by my side so I could enjoy her company. I was specifically thinking that I didn't understand dance, that I had to sit through twenty-two dance numbers just to see Charly in two, one jazz and one tap. She loves to dance and is technically very good. She accurately does all the steps, but I wonder about her heart.

After most of it was over, including both of her numbers, I was relaxing, just watching when I saw a young girl with a big smile dancing with all of her heart in a ballet. I don't know about the technical parts, but it was beautiful. I felt it in my heart. At the same time a voice inside me said, "They dance for Him."

Dance is a celebration of life. It is a sacrament of the body. It is a ritual of gratitude for all that the body can do, be, and represent. It is a ceremony of the wonders of life. In doing so it is also a tribute to Him who makes it all possible. Christ is the light and the life of the world. He is the way, the truth and the life. He makes it all possible. Without Him we could not exist. He created all things so that we would have a place to be. He constructed our home. He gave us the gift of independence, choice, and agency. He allows us to use that freedom -- and misuse it. And when we die because of our bad choices, He allows us to repent, and return to life. He gives us life in the first place, and then allows us to return to life, whatever life we desire. He is the life. Dance is a celebration of Him.

Some may be selfish, dancing for another reason. Laman, Lemuel, and the sons of Ishmael were dancing and making merry and forgetting the Lord. The daughter of Jared in the Book of Ether danced to get Akish to desire her. She had a sinister plot to marry him so he would kill her grandfather, the king, and get the kingdom for her father. Her dance was not for the Lord, but rather for Satan.

Whenever we dance to celebrate life, love, and all the gifts we have been given we do it for Him. I believe most don't know that they dance for Him. When they find joy in expressing the wonder of the body and all it is capable of doing they are dancing for Him. King David came triumphantly into Jerusalem, dancing for Him. David was a man after the Lord's own heart.

"Let them praise his name in the dance." (Psalm 149:3)