The 8th Grade Dance

I've just returned from a weekend at Shrine Mont with seventy-some 8th graders from St. Stephen's and other parishes in the Diocese. 

For many kids, the highlight was the dance. That may not come as a shock. Perhaps a bit more surprising is that it was a highlight for me, too.

It was not the 8th grade dance that I remember -- gender-segregated circles, tightly sealed against intrusion, with outsiders clinging to the walls as if they were life-saving flotation devices. PYM* youth leaders helped set the tone by dancing with abandon, for no other reason than the joy of it. And the joy was contagious. 

For a few minutes, I just watched and grinned. Witnessing such exuberance and playfulness was like being in the presence of an infant, of life lived completely in the moment. After trying to play it cool with some foot tapping, I couldn't help but dance too.

I was similarly moved by the walking of the labyrinth. On the surface, these two activities present quite a contrast. The silent, measured steps of the labyrinth walk...the deafening chaos of the dance: the sacred and the profane. 

We walked as a prayer and danced as a party, and yet I can't help seeing a connection between the two. Both called us out of our heads, down into our bodies and feet, bringing us closer to life, closer to God. 

On Sunday morning, as we celebrated the Eucharist and our weekend together, how fitting it was to hear Jesus remind us, "Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it."

*PYM stands for Parish Youth Ministries; this committee composed of youth from throughout the Diocese of Virginia.