I Danced in the Morning

I danced in the morning when the world was begun
I danced in the Moon & the Stars & the Sun
I came down from Heaven & I danced on Earth
At Bethlehem I had my birth:

I love the images in the Sydney Carter song, Lord of the Dance, which I had forgotten for a while. Thanks to a performance of the Celtic tour Lord of the Dance I was reminded of it. Back in 2009, I wrote a study based on my book Miriam’s Healing and looked at how her life danced near and far from God. During Advent of 2010, I returned to the theme of Dancing with God in a blog series about those who danced with God to the Nativity.

This series will be a little different. We’ll look at the verses of the song and consider them in light of our post-Easter walk. As we look at this song and the journey of the disciples on the Road to Emmaus, (Luke 24:13-35) we could find our hearts burning and feel moved to share the message we proclaim Sunday after Sunday.

The first verse (“I danced in the morning, when the world was begun…”) reminds me of the scene in CS Lewis’ The Magician’s Nephew, where Aslan sings Narnia into being. Aslan’s song causes all the earth to come alive and give birth to plants and animals. I’ve always thought that was a delightful image of creation. This image of Narnia is a crocheted piece by Frances Covey. (Isn't it great-hard to believe it's crocheted!)

A voice could be heard singing in the darkness. A deep and wonderful voice. And as it continued it was joined by a host of twinkling, starry voices.
After a while the starry voices grew fainter, while the voice of Aslan rose and swelled to the mightiest and most glorious sound. And as he sang, the sun arose, laughing for joy and spreading its beams across the land.
And that was the beginning of Narnia.” (CS Lewis, Chronicles of Narnia, Magician’s Nephew)

After the varied emotions of Holy Week-from “Hosanna!” to “Crucify”, we come to the excitement of Easter when we shout “Alleluia! He is Risen!” The Easter season is about how to live into that Easter faith, living joyfully each day.

Sometimes the let-down after Easter can make us a bit less than enthusiastic. God invites us to come right into the dance, though. The dance started at Creation and continues still.

The disciples on the Road to Emmaus were downcast as they went from Jerusalem. The Jesus comes to them. “Then he said to them, ‘Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?’ Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.” (Luke 24: 25-27)

Where are you in your Easter journey? Are you still on a high from the joyful and beautiful music and images? Are you exhausted and glad it’s over so you can get back to ‘normal’? Are you still shouting “Alleluia” or are you back on the road, not even sure Easter is real?

Wherever you are, Jesus come alongside, to walk and be in relationship and open the scriptures. He invites us to laugh like the Narnian sun and to dance!

Dance then, wherever you may be
I am the Lord of the Dance, said He!
And I'll lead you all, wherever you may be
And I'll lead you all in the Dance, said He!

Next week, with the disciples on the Road, we will meet Jesus.