WACKY WEDNESDAY WISDOM: I'll Become Even More Undignified

     Think me not weird when I confess to you that at the age of 54, I still dance occasionally. Doesn't sound unusual until you learn that I dance mostly when I'm by myself- sometimes in my truck, sometimes in the shower, and even on my lawn mower. Yes I realize I march to the beat of my own drummer or in this case, dance to the beat of my own music. I am not ashamed. I am my own person. I am old enough that I've become comfortable with being who I am, which is a unique, unusual person to say the least.
     A dancing by myself event occurred recently and as mentioned above, took place while I was mowing the grass on my riding mower. Impossible, you might say, but it happened, says I. Some context is appropriate here.
     I was a senior in high school in the spring of 1982. I realized then that a significant period in my life was coming to a conclusion. I wanted to seize every moment. Our high school baseball team was on its way to a state championship, which we eventually won. Chemistry class was becoming increasingly more of a drudgery each day and I was "counting the costs" of how much effort I was willing to put into it. (Ended up with a B- despite having an A+ at the beginning of January- a direct result of Senioritis, which is a certifiable documented disease).
     At any rate, one of the things I remember most about Spring, 1982 is the music. How can you ever forget the songs on the radio from your senior year in high school? I can't. And one of those songs was "Freeze Frame" by the J. Geils Band. Every time it came on the radio, we went bananas. It has a beat that invites you to move. I realize this will not be popular with the most conservative of my friends and acquaintances, but this is as much a confession as it is a justification.
     I vividly remember one particular evening when my friend David and I were out and about the town in his parents' banana yellow, oversized Oldsmobile of some sort- along with three other friends in the backseat. He was driving and I was riding co-pilot when suddenly and without warning, Freeze Frame came on the radio. We sprung into action. I still don't know exactly how he did it, but he was able to successfully drive and at the same time while play most of the imaginary instruments. I took on the role of synthesizer keyboard player and off we went. There were various sorts of  left to right movements in time with the beat. There were drum rolls. There was bobbing and weaving. There were strange looks and mocking laughter from our passengers in the back seat. We sacrificed our dignity and risked our good names during those moments but we brought down the house, so to speak. And he didn't get pulled over by a cop.
     Freeze Frame rang out through my earphones recently during the aforementioned mowing of the grass in my yard- which fortunately is secluded and not in public view. So off I went. I rocked the synthesizer, I moved left and right to the beat, I banged the drums at appropriate moments. I nearly ran into the magnolia tree, but I raised the roof, if that's really such a thing. This was not the first time I had attempted to sing and dance while mowing. My wife quizzes me occasionally after such ventures, asking me "What kind of crazy stuff were you up to out there?" She then makes some type of comment about how foolish I look, which is an accurate observation on her part.
     2 Samuel 6:14-23 tells the story of King David dancing in the streets before God's people as the Ark of the Covenant returns to the city. David danced the dance of celebration, leaping and twirling in such a manner as to make himself look somewhat foolish, at least in the eyes of his wife. When she questioned his dignity, he replied, "I will become even more undignified in the future as I celebrate before the Lord." What? The Man After God's Own Heart is dancing, celebrating and shedding the reserved image that all men of dignity are expected to adhere to?
     I get it that dance moves can be vulgar and suggestive. I understand the concern when particular gyrations are offensive. But like most everything, when done in a way that God approves, dancing can be yet another expression of the Joy we have in Christ. I just hope it doesn't cause me to fall off my lawn mower anytime soon.