Dispatches from Fr. Charitas de la Cruz

Friday, April 27, 2018

When they say you have butterflies in your stomach, they refer to stage fright; but when I speak of butterflies before my eyes, I refer to dancing joy. I find butterflies are remarkable dancers when they dance before my eyes.

In the tradition that nurtured me was not much into dancing. Years ago, some of the brothers and sisters condemned it completely; those others say no sin in folk dancing. Never quite understood the difference … but that is the way it was.

When I tour these realms in the sacred hills, I find each realm has a different dance. They have dances that are danced in times of joy and they joyful dances when the sorrows our deep. They dance together, the nimble and the awkward, for the dance is a communal rite. It is the coming together to whirl and to twirl, to swing and to shout; it is the celebration of being together as one.

I sense that we were born to dance, to dance with the Lord and with each other. We are to turn, turn until we come out right. We are to dance the dance of Repentance. We are to dance the dance of Hope. And we are to dance in the times of Changing, when people get married, when people come home, and when the seasons arrive and depart.

Weddings have dancing, but funerals, it is rare if they do. Angels sing, but I think they also dance. I think the Spirit dances as it is passed from dancer to dancer. I know lovers dance sometimes slowly and tearfully. And it is wise to dance with your children.

Certain Christian traditions don’t like to dance all that much, but I believe they are the very ones who need to dance all the more.

Always in His Service,
Fr. Charitas de la Cruz