Freedom to move

A running joke growing up in my old Southern Baptist church was that dancing was somehow evil or taboo. Even in our youth musical one summer, the dialog for the drama included a reference to “rhythmic interpretive movement” instead of dance. Since that time, I have wondered why we were so afraid of incorporating dance into our Sabbath…and I don’t think just assuming no one can dance is good enough reasoning.

I did a little research on the matter to see what the Bible had to say. The psalmist is a HUGE fan of the practice, and the Israelites often celebrated their worship with dancing and singing. While we do a great job of lifting our voices in song week to week, we miss out on experiencing the Holy through “rhythmic interpretive movement.” Is it that we’ve labored under this notion that we shouldn’t dance as worship for so long that we’ve forgotten how to do so?

Sometimes the Spirit moves in such a way that words and song and stillness are not adequate responses to the presence of the Divine. In fact, I like to imagine the Genesis story to read more like this:

“In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while the Spirit of God danced over the face of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness God called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, and they danced in its beauty and called it a day.”

So let us challenge ourselves to worship God with our full bodies, not just our minds, hearts, and voices. Let us inhabit the fullness of our creation and dance as the Spirit did over the dark waters of pre-time. Let us throw off the inhibitions that keep our feet still and legs stiff so we may join in the dance of creationkind. Amen.


This writing first appeared as part of an online devotional series for Baptist Church of the Covenant in Birmingham, Alabama, in 2013.

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