Welcome: An Introduction

Sharing the insights I discover as I explore and experience the mystery that is our reality. Join me in my journey and share yours.




Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Enjoying the Dance

" The more we persist in misunderstanding the phenomena of life, the more we analyse them out into strange finalities and complex purposes of our own, the more we involve ourselves in sadness, absurdity and despair. But it does not matter much, because no despair of ours, can alter the reality of things, or stain the joy of the cosmic dance which is always there. Indeed we are in the midst of it, for it beats in our very blood, whether we want it to or not."

Thomas Merton, Seeds if Contemplation , p. 230





What is the cosmic dance of life? It is the Presence of God, playing and dancing and weaving itself throughout all of Creation and within our very hearts. In our culture we try to understand and dissect every natural and supernatural phenomena. That can have it's place.

There comes a time, though, when it is necessary to put away our intellectual scapels and magnifying glasses. To simply come and dance, dance with our Lord. To experience and enjoy the presence of God without trying to understand it. As humans it's natural that we have the tendency to try to understand things so much with our heads that as a result we fail to experience them fully with our hearts. I have that tendency at times, and I have to say that the moments when I feel closest to God, the most fulfilled, saturated with His Spirit and full of joy, is when I abandon myself entirely to God, losing myself in the depths of His love.

Our intellect will only lead us deeper into despair when we rely on it alone in the pursuit of knowing and experiencing God. For it is limited. Scripture tells us to not trust in our own understanding but to instead set our heart's focus fully on God. When we do this, He will make our paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6)

This isn't always an easy thing to accept, that we have a limited understanding of things and instead have to trust in God in obtaining knowledge, enlightenment and in understanding our spiritual experiences. This is something I had to grapple with mightily, and almost fought against for awhile stubbornly, in my own walk. We are taught to be independent and many of us feel comfort in being in control. To trust whole-heartedly another, even God, can be a difficult leap of faith to make. But when one makes that leap, it is truly liberating!

In regards to enjoying the experience of God's presence and not getting caught in the intellectual trap of continually pursuing to understand it, David Adam puts it this way:


The sad thing about most people is that they can see only the blatantly obvious or the problems of life, they rarely enjoy its mysteries. We need to realize for ourselves the great mysteries that are talked about. We need to take time to explore them and to enjoy them. We must learn to treat more things as mysteries to be enjoyed rather than as problems to be solved. Facts such as the Presence, the Love of God, the Peace which passes all understanding, are available to us and can be experienced...for each of us to enjoy.
                    ~The Eye of the Eagle, p. 75

So, my suggestion:  let's put down our intellectual tools of dissection and take up our banners, lift them high to praise our great King and dance in and with His presence, experiencing the peace and love that surpasses all understanding as we enter into His courts with trust and joy.

Any thoughts? I'd love to hear them! Please leave them in the comments section!

26 comments:

  1. I wrote something on a similar subject (On a serious note).... more on putting down the things that take us away from the self and enjoying life... people and just being.
    Sometimes we tend to over analyze or question the motives of others or situations.... Go with the flow trust out gut instincts as that is the voice given to us by god

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  2. I'm all for listening to God's voice over man's...and our own confused and shifting opinions ;) Great thoughts Savira, thanks for stopping by and sharing them. ~blessings

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  3. Hi Jessica, I have always been very weary of digging too deep into the scriptures. There are a lot of things that I don´t understand and that I accept. What is important for me is to know that Jesus had died on the cross for my sins, washed me clean and He will come back again to fetch me. He never goes back on his promises and He always loves me. That is what I sincerely belief.

    I watched a BBC program the other day about the 40 days since resurrection and ascending. People are speculating so much. I had to wonder is it really important to know exactly what Jesus did in those 40 days?

    Thank you for this great blog Jessica! I really enjoy coming here.

    Nelieta travel blog

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  4. The powers of the universe are wondrous if we take the time to notice. Sometimes the burdens of life seem to deep to see the light, remove your own veil and you will see! Great post. <3

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  5. LOVE this line, Jessica:
    There comes a time, though, when it is necessary to put away our intellectual scapels and magnifying glasses.

    This resonated as well:
    The sad thing about most people is that they can see only the blatantly obvious or the problems of life, they rarely enjoy its mysteries.

    I know people like this and sometimes they don't EVEN see the blatantly obvious; but they seem to ALWAYS see the problems or if they don't see them, they create the problems. It's a shame that they can't get out of their own way, can't take of their blinders and see the magnificence all around them.

    Sometimes I'm STILL surprised that I have the spiritual depth that I do coming from a family w/very little spirituality. It's just another instance that I can point to where my faith and spirituality was indeed a gift given to me by my God.

    Be Happy! Be Well! Be Positive!
    Blessings to you.
    --
    Chris

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  6. We must learn to treat more things as mysteries to be enjoyed rather than as problems to be solved...True indeed.

    If one follows what you pointed out they will be more happy and more confident in life. :D
    When The Heart Speaks

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  7. Nelieta, thank you so much for stopping by and sharing your thoughts! I couldn't agree more! I think a lot of precious time is wasted. I sadly, was a person that used to pick apart things theologically myself, until I felt God's presence more fully within me and realized that that is the purpose of faith...to find Him and walk fully in His presence, seeking and finding our identities to bring about His Will. And that journey brings much more joy than any theological debate!
    Thanks for your comment :)

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  8. Thanks Jan! "remove your own veil and you will see"..I agree. A lot of time it has to do with perspective and choice. We can choose joy over lamenting, seeing the divine through the ordinary or just seeing the ordinary, when we choose to recognize the blessings in each moment. Sometimes it's too hard though, and we are too wounded or distracted, in those moments, if we ask God to lift that veil, he will lift it and we will begin to see glimpses of the beautiful, mysterious reality He is interwoven within and outside and all around. And then we have nothing more to do but be amazed! :) Thanks for stopping by and for your comment.
    ~blessings

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  9. Chris, thanks so much for your reflections. What a blessing indeed it was to have the seed of faith and internal awareness, of the abundant and amazing divine reality that surrounds us, planted in your heart and mind. It might not have been watered or enriched by your upbringing, but by the greatest gardener of all it was watered and began to blossom. God is great indeed. Thank you for stopping by :)

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  10. Ahbisek, thank you for stopping by :) Those words of wisdom from David Adam resonated with me too. Glad you enjoyed the post. ~blessings

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  11. hmmm...i admire you very much jessica... just one word crossed my mind as i write this---"docility"...

    i could see the blur right before me because they are on the surface... but deep within i feel His presence that gives me peace beyond understanding... i just need some time to let His music flow within me... so i could dance in whatever beat He plays...

    it's a very good reflection for the day...but geez, please don't make me cry early morning :P...

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  12. when you dance they say to let the man leed. well he the man. thank you and god bless

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  13. Your words ring so true, thanks for sharing with us. We have to trust god to do the right thing.

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  14. Melissa...may the only tears you shed in the morning be happy ones! Or anytime for that matter :) Thank you so much for your comment. May you always dance to the ryhthym of our Lord :)

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  15. Well said Roy! Thanks for stopping by! Many blessings to you and yours :)

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  16. Sulekkha, thank you for stopping by and for your thoughts :) So true. ~blessings

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  17. I like this post Jessica..the artwork reflects the freedom of living in " The Mystery"...and yes, we walk in it every day. If you have not visited my blog lateley, I just put up a post with a similar thread...being too much in the mind....I feel we need to learn to trust and " Live the Mystery"....great insight....

    http://ravenmyth.blogspot.com

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  18. Thank you for stopping by Raven. I look forward to reading your post. So true, we walk in the great mystery of His presence and reality every day, every moment, we just need to tune our senses and hearts to discover it :) So glad you are doing just that! May God bless you :)

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  19. If he can play a cool Jazz piece, I'm in!
    Lovely post Jessica, I feel it is in everyone of us to be the best to others and more importantly to the best with ourselves.

    A

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  20. I believe God digs jazz ;) He created the that our hearts express :) Thanks for stopping by A..it's always a pleasure to have you. ~blessings and love to you and yours

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  21. Here’s my song Jessica…

    Lord of the Dance
    Dance then, wherever you may be
    I am the Lord of the Dance, said He!
    And I'll lead you all, wherever you may be
    And I'll lead you all in the Dance, said He!
    (...lead you all in the Dance, said He!)

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLGqavkDszU&feature=related

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  22. I LOVE it!! Thanks so much Debra. Beautiful words and I loved the song, I love Celtic-style music :)

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  23. It is a great truth that so much stress is caused by the continual and desperate desire to "understand". I've had times like these. I refer to them as "Elijahed out!" It is just a relief to accept what we don't fully understand and let go the burden. That frees the mind of blocks and allows us to be creative. That creativity is the finest gift of God.

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  24. Your words ring true as humans certainly tend to overthink the situation and make the problem bigger than it really is. It's my aim to be part of the dance with God and allow him to lead me as he desires. Thanks for posting!!

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  25. Marty...I love the way you put it "creativity is the finest gift". I believe there's definitely something to that. Thomas Merton spoke a lot about creativity and the arts and how God manifested Himself greatly through us using those mediums. Great reflections. Thanks for stopping by :)

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  26. David, thanks for stopping by. May God lead you ever more into His presence, bringing you great peace and joy as you discover more of His will for you and go out and fulfill it. ~blessings :)

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