How wonderful! Life
is a dance! Life is meant to be lived, and loved, and tasted, and hated, and
feared, and risked, and tested, and experienced. And no matter what happens
– the dance goes on.
Joseph Campbell
once said (I’m paraphrasing here) "People get so caught up in
whether Jesus actually rose from the dead. To me, that is not so important as
what His resurrection is supposed to teach. Instead of arguing about the
resurrection, I ask you, ‘Do you apply the
resurrection principle in your daily life?’"
A life well lived,
a life where you are willing to take your steps, despite your fears, a life
where you go for your dream - no matter what it is, will be filled with lots
of little deaths. A new job means the death of an old job. Increased success
means the death of our thoughts that we don’t deserve more. Trying on a new
thought means the death of an old, maybe cherished, thought. For every
beginning there is an ending. And for every ending – if we continue taking
our steps – there is new life.
Nature continually shows
us the cycle of life every year. The growth in summer, the maturing in autumn,
the death in winter and the new life in spring. And the dance goes on –
whether we participate or not.
One of the saddest
things a person can do is to stop living and only choose the safe route. A
person loses money in the stock market, and he/she stops the dance. They
decide, "I’ll never invest in the market again!" and they pass up
opportunities to learn, to change and to correct their original error. And
they pass up the chance to regain their loses, maybe even recoup more then
they ever imagined.
A person loses in a
relationship and they stop the dance. "I’ll never trust another person
again," they decide. And love and life passes them by.
There are no
guarantees in life. I heard about a book that was so aptly titled, "If
You Want a Guarantee, Buy a Toaster!" There are no guarantees that
you’ll dance the right steps the first time. There are no guarantees
that you’ll dance the right steps the second time. There are no
guarantees that you’ll dance the right steps the tenth time. There is
not even a guarantee that the song may not change.
But as you dance,
as you throw yourself into the glorious game called life, you begin to realize
that it’s not about whether you get the right steps or even if you can keep
time. It’s about whether you are willing to dance ANYWAY! That is
resurrection! And the dance goes on for anyone who chooses to continue.
So during this Easter,
try to remember that every day can be Easter. We mourn our little deaths, lick
our wounds and then resurrect and dance again. And hum to yourself the refrain
from the song.