I experienced probably my last WYIS performances today. There's something about kids singing or dancing on stage that often gets me teary-eyed whether I know the kids or not. This has confounded me for awhile. I can understand parents' pride in their kid's work or growth, but what is it about those kids that gets me deep down?
Today I made a connection that may provide a partial answer to my question. Dancing on that stage today were children from several different countries, most of whom had come to our school and had to learn English, often from scratch. They hang out in varying friend groups and were from several grades. I watched them move around in synchronization and began to see what gets me at the heart. On that stage, country, personality, grades, age, social status, personal beliefs didn't matter. They were dancing together. I'll admit these kids weren't in any synchronized-swimmer standard unity. No, in fact, at times they were all over the place but it didn't make a difference to me. They were dancing in unity with one purpose and they were enjoying it. They had obviously spent time learning the dance and each played their part in making the whole.
I wonder if I saw a bit of what our Heavenly Father sees when His children dance in unity. Just like most parents (hopefully) are touched by their children's performances no matter at what quality level they perform, what our Father delights in is our unity and heart. I don't think He looks down and sees how Little Adelita isn't perfectly in sync with the others or how Johnny had to take a pause to pick his nose. When his kids are dancing together, it is a delight.
I think too often we get caught up in what the perfect dance looks like and how to get everyone to accomplish "So You Think You Can Dance"-level synchronization. So if someone isn't up to our standard we vote them out. If we don't like the dance, we quit. But in the big picture, the important lesson is to become a part of the dance. Join in, whether you know how or not! We all have to learn.
Today I made a connection that may provide a partial answer to my question. Dancing on that stage today were children from several different countries, most of whom had come to our school and had to learn English, often from scratch. They hang out in varying friend groups and were from several grades. I watched them move around in synchronization and began to see what gets me at the heart. On that stage, country, personality, grades, age, social status, personal beliefs didn't matter. They were dancing together. I'll admit these kids weren't in any synchronized-swimmer standard unity. No, in fact, at times they were all over the place but it didn't make a difference to me. They were dancing in unity with one purpose and they were enjoying it. They had obviously spent time learning the dance and each played their part in making the whole.
I wonder if I saw a bit of what our Heavenly Father sees when His children dance in unity. Just like most parents (hopefully) are touched by their children's performances no matter at what quality level they perform, what our Father delights in is our unity and heart. I don't think He looks down and sees how Little Adelita isn't perfectly in sync with the others or how Johnny had to take a pause to pick his nose. When his kids are dancing together, it is a delight.
I think too often we get caught up in what the perfect dance looks like and how to get everyone to accomplish "So You Think You Can Dance"-level synchronization. So if someone isn't up to our standard we vote them out. If we don't like the dance, we quit. But in the big picture, the important lesson is to become a part of the dance. Join in, whether you know how or not! We all have to learn.
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