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| photo by Jeehye Kim |
One
day a dancer friend said to me something like, “Have you ever considered that
when you simply raise your arms in worship you are changing the composition of
the room?” Another friend, a pastor, confirmed this sentiment sometime later,
“All you have to do is raise an arm and the congregation is with you.” And this
got me thinking about the energy in a worship space and how a lifted arm might
invite a shift. It got me thinking more about the make-up of the body and our
desire for wholeness. It got me thinking about the pulse of worship and the way
dance in worship generates or encourages praise, reflection, opening of hearts
to God. And it led me to a deeper understanding of Liturgical Dance –
presentational as well as congregational – as a means of facilitating healing
of the Body. Dance within worship, God’s word embodied: a most immediate and
visceral reminder of the goodness of the body, of Christ come to us as one of
us.
Just
as well, to learn the art of therapeutic massage is to learn to be a
facilitator. The body of the one under my hands is the co-healer with God’s
Spirit. What I do is to show up and, hopefully, create the conditions for some
kind of shift to occur. To some this might sound like a ‘patch of weirdness.’
But Liturgical Dance is not exactly a well trodden path either. I cannot think
of anything better than being a little weird for God.
In
the work I plan to do as a massage therapist I will be part of a dynamic team
of physical therapists, fitness trainers and dance teachers. My clients will be
athletes and dancers and those with chronic pain who have not yet been able to
find a solution for their pain. The connection of this work to my work in the
church must surely be bridge building and facilitation: creating conditions for
the body to find its way to a sense of wholeness. Whether through lifting arms
or twirling feet in worship or through laying hands on a body that thirsts for
touch, I pray with my whole being that I will be a vessel for transformation.
I
read these words recently in an article on massage: “In touch, wonder is
coupled with joy... As massage therapists, we get to do good. We get to put our
clients in touch with the beauty that lives within them. We help them to
experience more deeply the truth of their aliveness” (D. Lauterstein, Massage Magazine, Feb 2013, pp 42-46)
And oh the wonder! Our heart pumps involuntarily and the highways and byways of
our circulatory system carry nutrients throughout our body. Millions of cells
do their mighty work to keep us in motion and help us rest. A nose remembers;
an eye twitches and fills with emotion. Our body makes myriad decisions in
passing moments for the sole purpose of keeping us alive and in balance.
Liturgical
dance at its best is also wonder coupled with joy. Dancers in church have the
distinct privilege of getting to do a barefoot boogie in a sanctified place.
And the primary purpose is to bring the church lovingly home to itself, to
remind the Church of the inherent, fleshly beauty of our incarnate and risen
Lord. Herein is the great commission for an embodied ministry:
“Take,
eat”…(ingest and digest Me)…said our Lord Jesus on the night he was betrayed. I
become your cells and blood, enlivening muscle and bones. So tangible, I am
your flesh and your deepest yearning…your desire and your action. Offer Me to a
hurting world. Take your hands and put them on my Body, him and her who ache
for newness and an end to suffering. Let your feet be swift and beautiful for a
Church that needs a barefoot boogie to bring it lovingly home to itself. And
take your words, soft and gentle yet gathering strength for witness and
proclamation, and love, deep love. Offer Me to a hurting world.
May it be so! Amen.
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