Let's Dance

A few days ago, I pulled a box out of the garage which held some old CD's of mine from college. The box had been moved many times without even being opened. I found what I was looking for: my Norton Anthology of Western Music CD's from my days at Hartt. We are planning some music appreciation lessons for the coming school year, and I thought these would be perfect.

What I didn't expect to find were a whole bunch of CD's that I loved in my younger days, and used to listen to all the time. Among them were a Miles Davis collection and a CD of Billie Holiday. I put the Billie Holiday one on and turned it up...real loud. What happened next was truly amazing. Everyone looked up from what they were doing...one here reading, one there playing Lego's. Everyone started to smile. Some even giggled. And then, everyone began moving. Gabriel began the dancing, as he so often does. Happiness bubbles out of him. He cannot hide it. Then the others, one by one... including this Mama...began tapping our toes and spinning to the music. The girls clutched one another and began twirling and jumping and laughing. Even Nicholas got in on the action, albeit in a shy, reserved way. We danced till we panted with excitement and exhaustion. We laughed and spun and bubbled over with joy.

Once the music ended, we all returned our attention to other things. There was dinner to make, pages to be read, and Lego armies to construct. There was work to do. But we all set off to work with a cheerful smile, and a little song in our heart. (Proverbs 17:22)

You can be sure I have set aside a small stack of CD's, right next to the stereo. There will be times in our future, I am sure, when our mouths will be smile-less and our hearts song-less. And I know just what to do. Insert CD, turn the volume up high, and clear the floor. Let's dance.

There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:

a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,

a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,

a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance...

Ecclesiastes 3:1-4