The Mourning Dance Of Joy

The Mourning Dance Of Joy

The young women will dance for joy, and the men—old and young—will join in the celebration. I will turn their mourning into joy. I will comfort them and exchange their sorrow for rejoicing. Jeremiah 31:13

After a family tragedy, months passed as our family struggled to find the joy we had known before the accident. It seemed as if we were stuck in the sorrow of our past, and our shared grief somehow blocked our ability to think about the future.

One of the counselors we saw at the time suggested that we take up a new hobby—something mindless and repetitive that would engage both the right and left sides of our brains. At the top of her list of suggestions was ballroom dancing. We had all taken a few dance classes, and Karen was already a great dancer, so we agreed that dancing would be our new family hobby.

We started out slowly, and some of us (meaning me) were slower than others—mixing up left and right feet or stepping on our partner’s toes. But after a month of lessons, we could all do the rumba. After six months, we could all do the cha-cha. But it took us only a few minutes into our first lesson for us to laugh at ourselves.

I’m not sure if it was the dancing that saved us or the laughter, as we tried to learn each new dance. But each new step helped us put our past behind us as we began to anticipate our future. Our dancing may not always have been graceful, but the hobby was our saving grace. It helped us to live in the moment and restore a proper balance to our lives.

After a year of lessons, we decided we’d had enough with trying to learn new steps. But even though the hobby ceased, the laughter continued. Today’s verse reminds me of how important it is to find pleasure in the moment. At the time, dancing helped exchange our sorrow for joy. Even today, the shared laughter over those dancing lessons remains.

TODAY’S RX

So you think you can’t dance? Put one foot in front of the other and soon you’ll be dancing, or at least laughing at your own attempts. Either way, joy will restore your soul.

God, just as Scripture says, there is a time and season for everything—both joy and sorrow. Thank you for walking with me in all seasons and for giving me much to be joyful about.