When I Dance

"There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under the heavens::...a time to mourn and a time to dance..."

Ecclesiastes 3:1,4
   

    For as long as I can remember I have always loved to dance.  If my mother were alive she would no doubt have stories of when I first began to bounce up and down to the beat of music while still in diapers. There is something that happens when I dance. It's as if I become infused with the music I am listening to. I can clearly distinguish between music and lyrics and to me the two are distinctly different. Lyrics engage my mind but music commands my body.  When I was younger and sang in a local R & B band in Fayetteville, N.C. I remember how I would dance all night. As long as the music moved me I knew nothing of tiredness.  Here are some of the things dancing did for me:

• Dancing kept me in shape physically
• Dancing made me feel free and alive
• Dancing made me happy
• My dancing often made others happy

  I don't dance too often these days. It's not that my love for music has diminished, but I do believe that it's primarily because I do not have a dance partner.  My wife is not a dancer but she likes to see me move, (you figure that one out). I stopped going to clubs years ago because of the unwholesome atmosphere found inside and among some of the patrons and also because I greatly altered my lifestyle.  Every now and then I may hear an old funky song from years gone by or simply get a thought and then I am off to a few seconds of spinning, strutting, and feeling downright.....awesome. (That's the safest word I could find at the moment). 

 I have been encumbered about much these past few weeks.  There have been the passing of friends, loss of relationships/friendships, senseless killings throughout our nation, racial issues, family and friends who have recently been hospitalized and much more.  I have to sometimes turn off my car stereo and television because of the constant stream of depressing news. Yes, I understand the need to stay informed concerning current events, but enough is enough and sometimes we just need to hear the deafening sound of silence.  Because I keep in contact with so many of you I know you have been burdened by a seemingly ceaseless turn of events so I will make this short and to the point:

"A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person's strength.." Proverbs 17:22 

Today, or sometime this weekend, I want you to turn off the drama, turn on the music and shake off your burdens.
See you on the dance floor.
Dennis