To dance together with the Lord (Sharon Zaenglein Chipman)

  [This Sunday’s readings include the] beautiful love story between (the LORD) Adonai and Moses, and their dance. Greeting each other, circling round each other, introducing the Who of who they are – God greets Moses with “let me tell you about myself: I am merciful and gracious, and if we are to dance together, you must learn the steps of mercy and graciousness. I am patient, slow to anger, even if you step on my foot. I am rich! But I’m not talking about money –I am rich in HESED!” 

    And Moses knew what hesed was – this was the kind of love every human heart longs for – faithful loving kindness. Love that never gives up. So Moses just falls in love with God, this Voice speaking in his heart, in the depths of his very soul… This God - dancing in the fiery bush, in the wind-blown grasses, in the billowing clouds surrounding him high on Mount Sinai. ‘Yes, I want to dance with you, Holy One, O yes!’ And I want my family and my friends to dance with you, Adonai. And Moses offers so sweetly, “Do come along in our company.” What a prayer! What a prayer for us today. 

   But then Moses has that hesitant worry about sharing his whole self, … what he’s ashamed of… his failures, but because this relationship can only be real, if he is real – he has to share his darkness. It’s a necessary part of the dance. 

    Our human clumsiness broke the heart of God, again and again. But God, being who God is, came even closer, and became humanly one of us, to show us more clearly the steps of the dance. We watch Jesus in his human walk, dance with God. If we listen well, we can hear the music of the Spirit, which is the love song between them. 

--Sharon Zaenglein Chipman 

Image source: Salvador Dali, Moses and the Burning Bush, https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2011/01/29/the-burning-bush/
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