Made To Dance

I hesitated to make the return.
It was only a few days after Christmas.
I felt that I had waited long enough for the crowds to lessen.
It was not a present I was returning but rather a purchase I made before Christmas for myself.

It was a formal dress in a wonderful color.
I did not try the dress on in the store.
When I got it home and tried it on, it fit very nicely but I did not like the neckline.
There were many ways that I could make this dress work but in the end I thought better of it.

I arrived at the store to find a long line.
Some people were returning; some were buying.
The buyers were taking advantage of the after-Christmas sales.
The returners were all there for various reasons.

The woman in front of me was a buyer.
She found wonderful bargains as the cashier reminded her.
To her delight, there was even more of a discount at the register.
It was the woman herself that made me smile.

Shoppers are usually oblivious to the music that is playing throughout the store.
Shoppers are focused on other things and for many the music becomes white noise.
An upbeat song was playing as we waited in line.
It was definitely a dance-able song.

And dance she did.
She did not dance obviously so that everyone would notice.
She danced subtly with minute movements that were almost imperceptible.
I just happened to notice because I was standing right behind her.

If we were not in a store or if we were not in a return line, this woman would be dancing.
As a matter of fact, she would have been quite a good dancer.
Had she been in her own house she would have danced.
She would have danced just like the saying goes.

Dance like no one’s watching.
Sing like no one’s listening.
Most of us dance like that in our own homes.
We will sing in the shower and dance in the kitchen especially when there is no audience.

I smiled when I noticed that this woman was dancing as she waited.
She was not the personification of the saying since she was aware that other people were around.
Still the music was heard and felt.
She could not keep still.

It reminded me of the movie, Saving Mr. Banks.
Walt Disney tried for twenty years to buy the screen rights to the Mary Poppins stories.
The author, P.L. Travers, met with Disney at the urging of her agent.
She did not trust Walt Disney to capture the essence of Mary Poppins on film.

There is a scene when the Sherman brothers, the songwriters for the film, play a song for her.
P.L. Travers was difficult to work with and nothing they did was right.
The screenwriters were not good enough; the story boards failed to tell the story to her liking.
Then something changed.

The Sherman brothers were frustrated that none of their songs met with her approval.
They wrote a song for the final scene when Mr. Banks repairs the kite of his children.
Mr. Banks takes his children to the park to fly their mended kite.
The song, Go Fly A Kite, was born.

The melody was wonderful.
P.L. Travers, a prim and proper British woman, usually showed minimal emotion.
As she sat there, the melody captivated her and she began to tap her foot.
One of the Sherman brothers noticed and instantly knew that they had succeeded.

I remember her foot.
I remember the subtle movement.
I remember that one of the Sherman brothers extended his hand for her to dance with him.
I remember P.L. Travers dancing.

For that moment, she was a girl again.
Something deep within her responded to a melody.
She could not help but respond.
P. L. Travers danced as if no one was watching.

He has made everything beautiful in its time.  He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. (Ecclesiastes 3:11)

Eternity is set in our hearts.
God put it there.
It is undeniable.
It captivates us.

It is God’s melody.
It is His Song.
God places His Song within us because we are made in His image.
It is often white noise that we fail to hear because of our many distractions.

All at once we hear His Song.
His song calls to something deep within us.
His call is irrevocable.
We begin to dance.

He extends His Hand.
We respond.
We are a child again.
We have always been His child.

We dance with abandon.
We dance as if no one is watching.
Except Someone is.
Someone has always been watching over us.

We dance into eternity with the sound of His melody in our ears.
What a glorious dance it will be.
No stumbling or faltering any longer.
Just grace-filled movements as He swirls us around the golden dance floor.

Can you hear it?
His melody is playing.
Once heard it will never leave you.
Are you ready to dance?