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Two weekends, two weddings, and a Baptist preacher dancing at both of them. What is the world coming to?
There was a time when a gifted young Sunday School teacher at Ball Camp Baptist Church took the initiative to resign her teaching posts for fear that her exploits might be discovered by the pastor. The stunning young man who would eventually be her husband had coaxed her on to a dance floor in one of Knoxville’s better establishments. To avoid public scandal, she preemptively resigned. Later on, much to the benefit of our church, she resumed her teaching duties.
Now, years later, her pastor is confessing to dancing at weddings. That has its own irony in that there was no dancing on the day Patti and I were married. We were still in seminary — a Baptist seminary. Actually, it was The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. Then reputed to be among Southern Baptist’s most liberal schools, but still dancing was not an encouraged activity. Our reception was held in the building that had once housed the WMU training school. How are you going to dance in a building where generations of Baptist women were trained for the mission field?
However, the absence of dancing on my wedding was not because of rules or regulations. No, it was because I was scared. Patti would have done it, but not me. I was too stuck on what I would look like or what other people would think. I had little or no understanding of dancing as shared joy and mutual celebration.
Well, we live and we learn. Each new day is full of opportunities to celebrate. There are sunrises and sunsets, moments and interruptions, victories and challenges that are worthy of celebration. Being able to dance with someone you love is an occasion for and an act of celebration. It is something I want to do every chance I get for the rest of my life.
Some of you may have seen me dancing at one of the above-mentioned weddings. You can attest to the fact that my dancing is not much better than my singing. Therein lies the beauty of the whole endeavor. It is a heart matter — an activity that is done not because it will be done well, but in spite of how it is done.
There are plenty of situations in life that bring hurt and pain to us. So when those occasions come around that cause us to want to sing or dance, well, we’ve only got so many of those.
Joy and peace,
Ed
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