I do like to dance. I might not be great at it but I love to follow the rhythms and the music. There is just something in me that makes me want to move, to follow the rhythm and to let it happen.
This is important because I learned from my pagan friends and Native American spirituality that Mother Earth has a rhythm and if we listen closely, it can inspire us and lead us to good places. Does this sound foreign to you? If you look deeply within, you will feel and hear and sense the rhythm. And what about scripture? Isn’ this all pagan superstition? No, it is deeply sacred. Have you not read the Psalms?
We have abandoned the “faith of our fathers” as we might say in church. The world of the Christian New Testament was holistic and spirituality, the earth, the stars, and God were all one wholistic reality. Our rational world has long since led us away from that eternal awareness that is all of creation.
St. Francis and Franciscan theology understood/understand this. We are all part of creation, we are creation. Our redemption, our salvation if you will, comes the moment we awaken to the Spirit of a Living God, that has been right there inside of us all the time. The African people of the Diaspora knew this. Barbara Holmes is an African American writer and theologian who writes about the first slaves in this country. They came from a wholistic belief that creation and spirit are one.
Dr. Holmes points to what every slave knew, the music and the rhythm lead to freedom. Many of the “spirituals” that were sung by the slaves were actually road maps to freedom. “Wade in the Water” and “Follow the Drinking Gourd” are but two songs that pointed the way. We have much to learn from the African American culture and about the God we all follow.
Listen! Can you hear the rhythm? Can you tune in to the song of all of Creation? Can you hear it in the Psalms? This is why, when the monks chant the Psalms, peace, and calm always arise. This Sacred song and rhythm are waiting for you to start dancing.
TMM