To Dance

I recently had a friend tell me that in Hebrew the word Forgiveness is translated "to dance".

Beautiful, isn't it?

I think so. Because this dance, it's changed my life.

This dance, also known in my world as joy, comes from a place deep inside. So deep and so big that sometimes I have no idea how to contain it all. I'm so full that I have no idea what to do with myself. What a problem to have, right?

Well, if you're interested, I'll tell you the secret...

Those who have been forgiven much, forgive much.

And, well, it's hard to have this joy if you don't have forgiveness. It's just this little lesson I've learned over the years. You see, the more I held onto the wrong others had done to me, the more I hardened and got stiff-necked. The more I held a grudge, the more my body tightened up. The more I decided "I'd show them", the more I lost myself.

And let me tell you, I had plenty reason to be angry.... I just didn't have reason to not forgive.

It only kept me captive, making me bitter and sick inside. It attacked my mind and my body. I was tired, worn out, and mentally exhausted. Sound familiar?

It may be a common misconception to believe that to forgive is weak, to forgive is to say what happened was ok, or that to forgive is not worth it. I would beg to differ. Because it was when I started on this journey of forgiveness that I began to Live.

Forgiving others.

Forgiving myself.

And when I started to do so, I started to see parts of my soul open up. I started to remember things I had forgotten. I started to respond to this new-found freedom with a new fervency and a new level of creativity; portals opened up and I was sucked inside.

And then started...the Dance. As I let go, things changed. I saw reality shift before my very eyes. Those people I had forgiven, they started dancing, too. Addictions broke off. Relationships were restored. Miracles took place. Nothing short of the supernatural, I tell you. No doctor or psychic could have done or predicted this. This was death being resurrected to Life. This was Christmas turned Easter. That baby boy I told you about yesterday, well, not only did He birth a love in me, He also birthed a love in them. And from then on, things were different.

Was/is it always easy? No. Is it often a process? Yes.

But there are also times where it's a moment. And it's in those moments when the dance starts to rise.

And when the dance starts to rise, when you touch that freedom, there's no turning back.

That's when you change. That's when you start to Live. That's when you can change the world.

Matthew 26:27-29

Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, I will not drink this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom."

(corresponding song: Into the Night by Santana)