Column: Dancing to the Waves

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By Heather Wright

Our youngest is now a teen, but a fond memory of her at three years old always comes to mind as the sun grows warmer and people start bravely venturing into the waters.

We were down in North Carolina for a summer break with a group of moms and daughters. The surf at the Outer Banks was powerful. It was capable of knocking down our young girls and pulling them under its strong undertow. We only allowed them in the shallows of the water’s edge. Alyse loved running in and out of the waves, attempting a sand castle, singing to herself and to anyone passing by. 

My favorite moment of our trip happened when Alyse first came face to face with a big-wave beach. She walked up the edge of the water and began dancing. It was a spontaneous response to the wonder, beauty and power of creation. She hummed a tune she made up and moved about spinning and kicking her legs up in abandon. There was something so pure and innocent in being so moved by the glory of God’s creation that she had to respond. As her mother, I saw strong waves, riptides and fierce undertow. She saw, felt and responded to the beauty of the Earth. She danced to the waves. After overcoming my own self-consciousness, we held hands and I spun her. I joined her dance.

Let me ask you: Would you be fully comfortable jumping and twirling in the air on a beach without concern for who might be passing by or seeing you even moving out of your way?  (I wouldn’t be.)  Why not?  What gets in our way?  What lessons has life taught you and me that inhibits our freedom? 

Children don’t think about playing. It is the air they breathe and an extension of themselves. Somewhere along the line, maybe trying to fit in during middle school, studying for SAT’s, or getting serious about our careers in college, we forget how to play. We might have felt shamed out of it, or that is “just baby stuff” but the reality is that play is central to our design, how we were meant to experience life. We are invited to be grateful people, living in the moment, into God-given freedom from others’ expectations for us or the idol of fitting in. 

I believe this picture shows us how we were meant to be. What holds us back is social conditioning, what I would call the world’s sin (making us feel stupid, shy, shamed or needing to measure up), and our own sin (diminishing the reflections of God in us). We might have meant to be dancers in God’s glorious creation but hurt and harm on the path of life, it has impacted us and taken away some of our lightness of step.

What might it mean for you to recover your ability to dance? I believe an encounter with a loving God is part of what heals the human heart. Knowing we were made for more by a Creator that has loving-kindness for us, and desires to redeem and reconcile us, can change our worldview if we allow it space in our hearts. So watching my daughter on the beach becomes a moment of self-examination, considering spiritual realities, and humbling me to invite God more to lead and guide me into a way of truth and freedom. 

Some things in life come back around. What delights my mother’s heart today is that my teenage daughter is still known to twirl and leap at the water’s edge (particularly when we are traveling away from home!). May she never lose her nerve to rejoice in the beauty of creation and feel free to play in the presence of others. I am grateful for all she invites me to consider. As I am sure you would agree, our children so often are our teachers about what really matters.

The Rev. Dr. Heather Wright is executive director of the Greenwich Center for Hope and Renewal and the author, with George Faller, of “Sacred Stress: A Radically Different Approach to Using Life’s Challenges for Positive Change.”

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