breathforthebones

I confess! I’m a watcher of the T.V. show Bones. The main character is beyond brilliant, but quirky to say the least. To her, life can be explained in terms of scientific theorems and mathematical principles. Her social skills are – well, let’s say they’re not great. But she’s surrounded by people who love her for who she is, quirks and all. We should all have the kind of friends that Bones has!

In a recent episode, she and her partner prepared to go undercover in a ballroom dancing competition (yes, I know – a bit over the top). Bones was absolutely confident that by observing and analyzing the other dancers, she could quickly pick up the moves and become a more than competent dancer – it was just a matter of mechanics, or so she thought. The result, as you can imagine, was not pretty. There was nothing aesthetically pleasing about the result – Bones seemed to get the mechanics of the dance but never got the art of the dance. She couldn’t navigate the relationship between dance partners and always tried to force the lead. She couldn’t forget herself enough to really enter into the dance.

Dance is an image used first by the church fathers to describe the relationship between the three persons of the Trinity as well as to describe the relationship between God and creation. The descriptive word they used is perichoresis, from the Greek περί (peri, “around”) + χορεύω (khoreuō, “dance”). Our word choreography comes from the Greek χορεύω. Perichoresis, or dance, creates a framework for us to imagine the relationship within the Godhead – a dance that we are invited into.

Bones is so busy thinking about herself, so busy analyzing and diagraming, so busy trying to master the mechanics, that she can’t step into the dance, can’t move with the music. I’m afraid that when it comes to dancing I’m more like Bones than I care to admit. I (mostly) understand the mechanics – I can even see and appreciate the beauty – but I have never been able to master the art of the dance. Maybe it’s my two left feet.

I think many of us are Bones when it comes to responding to God’s invitation to us. We over analyze, insist on taking the lead, never quite relax into the dance. There’s more resistance than there is relaxation into the arms of God. We often think that relationship with God is simply a matter of mastering the mechanics – morning prayer, check; scripture reading, check; good deed, check. Prayer, Scripture reading, bearing fruit – they’re all important. But I have found that it’s as much about relaxing into the arms of God, of learning to trust and follow him even (especially) when I most want to resist.

I wonder what music I will be asked to dance to today if I submit to relaxing into the dance with God?