# The Dance Day 1 > Come to Stillness: Take a few minutes to allow your mind and heart to be still before God. ### Opening Prayer: *My God and Father, Lord of the dance, allow me to see this day and this moment for what it really is—an invitation to dance the dance of life and faith with the One who made me. May I dance this day with joy and passion, knowing that there will never be another one just like it. In the name of Jesus I Pray. Amen. (JLB)* #### Psalm for the Week: Psalm 149 #### Sing to the Lord a New Song *149 Praise the Lord! Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise in the assembly of the godly!2 Let Israel be glad in his Maker; let the children of Zion rejoice in their King!3 Let them praise his name with dancing, making melody to him with tambourine and lyre!4 For the Lord takes pleasure in his people; he adorns the humble with salvation.5 Let the godly exult in glory; let them sing for joy on their beds.6 Let the high praises of God be in their throats and two-edged swords in their hands,7 to execute vengeance on the nations and punishments on the peoples,8 to bind their kings with chains and their nobles with fetters of iron,9 to execute on them the judgment written!This is honor for all his godly ones.**Praise the Lord!* #### Scripture for the Day: Psalm 150 #### Let Everything Praise the Lord *150 Praise the Lord! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens![a]2 Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness!3 Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp!4 Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe!5 Praise him with sounding cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals!6 Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!Praise the Lord!* #### Scripture for the Day: Jeremiah 31:1-14 #### The Lord Will Turn Mourning to Joy *31 “At that time, declares the Lord, I will be the God of all the clans of Israel, and they shall be my people.”2 Thus says the Lord:“The people who survived the sword found grace in the wilderness;when Israel sought for rest,3 the Lord appeared to him[a] from far away.I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.* *4 Again I will build you, and you shall be built, O virgin Israel! Again you shall adorn yourself with tambourines and shall go forth in the dance of the merrymakers. 5 Again you shall plant vineyards on the mountains of Samaria; the planters shall plant and shall enjoy the fruit. 6 For there shall be a day when watchmen will call in the hill country of Ephraim:* *‘Arise, and let us go up to Zion, to the Lord our God.’”* *7 For thus says the Lord: “Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob, and raise shouts for the chief of the nations; proclaim, give praise, and say, ‘O Lord, save your people, the remnant of Israel.’ 8 Behold, I will bring them from the north country and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth, among them the blind and the lame, the pregnant woman and she who is in labor, together; a great company, they shall return here.9 With weeping they shall come, and with pleas for mercy I will lead them back,I will make them walk by brooks of water, in a straight path in which they shall not stumble,* *for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.* *10 “Hear the word of the Lord, O nations, and declare it in the coastlands far away;* *say, ‘He who scattered Israel will gather him, and will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.’11 For the Lord has ransomed Jacob and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him.12 They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion, and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the Lord, over the grain, the wine, and the oil, and over the young of the flock and the herd;their life shall be like a watered garden, and they shall languish no more.* *13 Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old shall be merry. I will turn their mourning into joy; I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow. 14 I will feast the soul of the priests with abundance, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, declares the Lord.”* #### Reading for Reflection: *The cosmic dance of the universe is perhaps best articulated in the last three paragraphs of New Seeds of Contemplation, Merton’s most popular and best-loved book. The basic image is a favorite of the mystics, the image of God as bridegroom dancing with his bride, that is, all of creation, at a wedding feast. How often we’ve seen at a wedding reception the bridegroom with an enormous smile and tender love sweep his bride into his arms and out onto the dance floor; then the other couples follow. So also our cosmic God of creation. He is so deeply in love with his whole creation, especially us his rational creation, that he is engaged in a joyous dance daily with us, the work of his hands. This dance is going on all the time around us and in us, in every breath we draw and in every heartbeat. To live fully then is to tap into this reality that lies below the surface of things and to touch this rich river of joy and love that is being poured out into this world. (A Traveler Toward the Dawn by John Eagan)* #### Reflection and Listening: silent and written #### Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself #### Song for the Week: Canticle of the Sun *The heavens are telling the glory of God* *And all of creation is shouting for joy* *Come dance in the forest, come play in the field* *And sing, sing to the glory of the Lord* ### Closing Prayer *Lord God, draw me out on the dance floor of life this day and fill my ears and heart with the beautiful music of Your great affection. Give me such an awareness of your presence that my feet just can’t be still. Dance with me as I dance with you. Amen. (JLB)*