Remembering Why

At dance technique class tonight, we revised the choreography for ‘Our Hearts’. It’s been a long time, and for some time now I’ve been thinking of this dance and wondering when we’d get to dance it again. But of all days it was very good that it was today.

The past three weeks haven’t been easy at the studio, due to a strained relationship, and the awkwardness, and unresolved dissonance that ensued. Since then a surprising resolution for which I am very grateful has come about. But perhaps I had somewhat lost heart along the way, anticipation had turned to apprehension and there was the threat of various fears.

But dancing ‘Our Hearts’ today gave me a reason to continue. Dancing it for the first time almost made me cry, (probably I really did cry), as the lyrics simply resonated with me- to see the nations worship- that has been my heart’s cry for so long, and yet.

And yet sometimes we get so disheartened by the weaknesses we see in ourselves that we almost laugh at the dreams, hopes, visions we once had, relegating them to ‘ideals’, or just plain naiveté that we thought so highly of ourselves. Or we bury these dreams, ignore their presence, pack them into old boxes and keep them in the storeroom, thinking that we have become somehow disqualified.

Dancing ‘Our Hearts’ today brought me back to that time I had danced it to abandon in Japan- in Japan. I felt a surge of longing, it’s almost tangible, as I wrote that. But so often, that would just be considered to be sentimental and foolish. But yes, I had danced that in Japan. ‘To see the nations worship…’ ‘”Yes,” my heart cries, “yes”.

So my reason for being there, tonight, and for the nights to come, as many as God would allow would be a borrowed prayer from the words from the first stanza of the song:

Our hearts, our desire

Is to see the nations worship

Our cry, our prayer

Is to sing your praise to the ends of the earth

That with one mighty voice

Every tribe and tongue rejoices

Our hearts, our desire

Is to see the nations worship you.