I love the song, I Hope You Dance, by Lee Ann Womack. It speaks to me of living in the way I think God intends for us. It is a hopeful song that touches upon how life is all about choice, and how the questions we ask and answers we accept shape our destiny.
Human beings are seekers; designed in such a way that we hunger for answers—especially when things go wrong or strike us as unjust. We want to know the why and how, and “demand” justice from whatever authority we believe has the power to deliver it.
And so, here we are once again in the aftermath of yet another tragedy—the mass shooting in Parkland, Florida. Every sane person with a beating heart grieves for the victims and the loved-ones left behind. And predictably, also once again, a desperate cry for answers echoes across our land along with vague demands for “change,” albeit no one seeming to agree as to what that change should be.
This time, there is a groundswell of young people, encouraged by many in power and much of the media, confident that the answer is all about guns, proclaiming: “If only the tools used for such evil acts be banned, then we shall all be safe in our classrooms.” And their grief turns to anger as blame is assigned; “It is the NRA. It is the Republicans. The President is to blame!”
Some try to move beyond visceral, emotional, reactive answers and approach the matter with reason and logic, considering laws and rights and the state of the individual who committed the act. We debate and wrestle with each theory and proposed solution, but the gaps between our answers only widen. And the door for further evil remains open, as hope returns to fear—the fear that it will all happen again.
Sadly, good intentions have always and will always continue to fail, so long as we continue to look in the wrong direction for answers. The late Reverend Billy Graham spoke of this—indeed, it was his mission in life to reveal the answer and the solution. To paraphrase, he said “The human soul has a disease called ‘sin,’” as he then went on to offer the cure for our disease.
Even if you do not subscribe to the particular ideas promoted by Billy Graham, in the spirit of seeking answers and healing, I would recommend to you a wonderful book entitled, The Divine Dance, by Richard Rohr. In it, the author attempts to explain our relationship to God and how the notion of “sin” affects our lives, as he explains:
God is essentially saying, ‘It is you who cannot afford to be unloving; you just can’t. It’s going to stop the intrinsic flow, and you’ll be outside the mystery; you’ll be outside the flow of grace that is inherent to every event—yes, even sin.’ We are not punished for our sins—we are punished by our sins! This is why Jesus commanded us to love. You must love. You must, or you won’t know the basics. You won’t know God, you won’t know yourself, and you won’t know the divine dance. And some kind of suffering is always the price and proof of love.
If we will see it, all of human history points to the answer. Centuries of failure and misery has proven beyond doubt: When we rely solely on ourselves, guided only by a diseased soul, we step out of the Divine Dance, where we cannot help but fall, harming ourselves and often harming others.
Partake of the Dance and invite others to join you. That is the answer.
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