The Dance

1 Peter 1:15 But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. 

This scripture verse brings to mind a story of a Conformation teacher who—when teaching about our attempts to become more holy—was asked, “When do you personally feel most holy?”

“I promised you honesty in this class, so…” he paused to take a deep breath, “I will share a secret. When my wife and I were dancing at our wedding reception, we each promised to remember this time of cementing our relationship—the two of us becoming one—by dancing the same dance on our anniversaries. That dance, that relationship, has been expanded to include our children, wherever they are. Because our three-in-one God is with us as we dance, it may be considered our holiest time.”

The room was quiet, until, almost as a whisper, someone asked, “What if you are apart?”

“In a sense, we are never apart. Our relationship is solid. We are one as a family.”

Is this biblical, you may ask. Let’s look at what Moses wrote about day six in the beginning. He spoke of a singular God (he created them) and in the plural (Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us.)

What’s really happening here? If you start with the Father, Son, and Spirit, then the larger story of creation is about love and relationship and sharing life. God truly is three-in-one.  And God is love, so there can be no love without relationship. As C. S. Lewis says, “Love is something that one person has for another person. If God was a single person, then before the world was made, He was not love.”

This mystery is meant to utterly reshape our understanding of who God is and where God is. As for who we are, the principle of likeness is at work, and the indwelling presence of the Spirit within us is our invitation into a holy relationship.

Whatever your relationship is with God, know that He wants a strong one with you. So, put on your dancing shoes and join in. My prayer for you is, “I hope you dance.”