Monday Morning Manna: Dancing with a Limp

There really is something about presence that is meaningful. Its why people visit grave sites to leave flowers and a dozen other objects of meaning. Its why people keep a container of the ashes of a loved one in their home. We do what we must do to cope with what we can’t quite accept. Somehow, we navigate what is before us, even as we grieve. Amid my own recent grieving process, I discovered the following from Ann Lamott, an author with a rather unconventional approach to Christianity: “You will lose someone you can’t live without, and your heart will be badly broken, and the bad news is that you never completely get over the loss of your beloved. But this is also the good news. They live forever in your broken heart that doesn’t seal back up. And you come through. It’s like having a broken leg that never heals perfectly—that still hurts when the weather gets cold, but you learn to dance with the limp.” During their own set of difficulties, Moses instructed God’s people to refrain from taking advice from the wrong people but rather said, “You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear Him and keep His commandments and obey His voice; you shall serve Him and hold fast to Him” (Deuteronomy 13:4). He might well have added, “and even if you dance with a limp, you must keep on dancing.” I’m dancing with a limp today but thank God for the wonderful gift of memory and whatever it takes to keep it alive.

Dr. Dan Crawford, Senior Professor at Southwestern Baptist Seminary, is the WestCoast Baptist Association’s Spiritual Life & Leadership Mentor. Follow Dan on Twitter @DrDanRC and Facebook www.facebook.com/dan.crawford.