Comments on: A Time To Dance http://www.tomcottar.org/2007/12/10/a-time-to-dance/ ...conversation for the Journey... Fri, 12 Mar 2010 02:23:52 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: scott http://www.tomcottar.org/2007/12/10/a-time-to-dance/comment-page-1/#comment-14440 scott Wed, 12 Dec 2007 14:17:37 +0000 http://www.tomcottar.org/2007/12/10/a-time-to-dance/#comment-14440 Or as Wright asks, what would this look like if God were running the show. Because, of course, our central confession is that he is and we are acknowledging and living under his rule. Yes, we need the ascetic disciplines to indirectly tame the passions which rule us instead of God. And yes, we live in a world which is not yet full of Jubilee and we need seasons that reflect that truth. But we worship and proclaim the loving and gracious God fully revealed in Jesus of Nazareth. We must celebrate! In the face of even the harshest reality, we must together practice the rarely mentioned discipline of celebration. But even more than that, that sentence drives home a deep, deep truth. There is something essentially and wonderfully human in the fact that, in the face of trouble, pain, and suffering, somehow we still sing and dance. You see that everywhere, in every culture, and throughout history. When the Cromwells of the world deny and attempt to suppress that part of who we are, it is soul-crushing. Those of us learning to live within the life of the true Triune God have so much more reason to "bust out" as it were. How can we not? But the disturbing thing about America to me is not the return to paganism or embrace of secularism. Rather, it's that we seem to have forgotten how to dance as a people. And if the church won't live and teach us how, who will? However, in the Western Christian world, I believe we are in the Advent season and in the Eastern Christian world, we are in the midst of the Nativity fast. In both traditions, this is intended to be the season of anticipation and prayerful waiting for the Incarnation. The Christmas season, the season celebrating the glory and wonder of God becoming one of us to save his people, is traditionally supposed to run from December 25 to January 6. I think we need the prayerful anticipation to prepare us for the extended celebration. When we abandon either, it seems to fall apart. Of course, many of us (me included) do neither these days. We certainly don't seem to approach these seasons focused as a community. Or as Wright asks, what would this look like if God were running the show. Because, of course, our central confession is that he is and we are acknowledging and living under his rule. Yes, we need the ascetic disciplines to indirectly tame the passions which rule us instead of God. And yes, we live in a world which is not yet full of Jubilee and we need seasons that reflect that truth. But we worship and proclaim the loving and gracious God fully revealed in Jesus of Nazareth. We must celebrate! In the face of even the harshest reality, we must together practice the rarely mentioned discipline of celebration.

But even more than that, that sentence drives home a deep, deep truth. There is something essentially and wonderfully human in the fact that, in the face of trouble, pain, and suffering, somehow we still sing and dance. You see that everywhere, in every culture, and throughout history. When the Cromwells of the world deny and attempt to suppress that part of who we are, it is soul-crushing. Those of us learning to live within the life of the true Triune God have so much more reason to “bust out” as it were. How can we not?

But the disturbing thing about America to me is not the return to paganism or embrace of secularism. Rather, it’s that we seem to have forgotten how to dance as a people. And if the church won’t live and teach us how, who will?

However, in the Western Christian world, I believe we are in the Advent season and in the Eastern Christian world, we are in the midst of the Nativity fast. In both traditions, this is intended to be the season of anticipation and prayerful waiting for the Incarnation. The Christmas season, the season celebrating the glory and wonder of God becoming one of us to save his people, is traditionally supposed to run from December 25 to January 6. I think we need the prayerful anticipation to prepare us for the extended celebration. When we abandon either, it seems to fall apart.

Of course, many of us (me included) do neither these days. We certainly don’t seem to approach these seasons focused as a community.

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