On the green grass

Last night many of us gathered at church, picked up sack dinners and headed down Iowa Avenue to Riverside Park near the "red brick building" to watch Ballet West II perform: outside on the green grass as the sun set behind the west hill bluff and a breeze blew from behind us. The ballet's director Mark Goldweber introduced the pieces and then said: "I will be watching the dancers perform, but every chance I get I will also be looking out that way" (waving out to the Mississippi). "This is such a beautiful setting."

Indeed. The performance of art enlivened our minds and the beauty of God's creation held us all.

This is how God works in the world. When we gaze upon dancers on a stage and hear the music, we see and hear the Spirit dancing. We experience these times as thin places, and a thin place is any experience or moment in which we connect with God. It usually lasts for just a brief few seconds, because then we are distracted by a recurring concern in our life. Or we may have to run after our children (like Sophia) who don't need art because they are art.

Thin places are all around us because the kingdom of God is all around us. Jesus still invites us to sit down in groups on green grass and be fed (Mark 6:39-42). When we allow ourselves to be connected to God, our life becomes a work of art. When we allow the Spirit to shine in us and through us, people no longer see us. They see God dancing.

Willing, David