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Monday, July 03, 2006
Dead Can Dance
Psalm 130; Mark 5:21-43
It's the story of two miracles, performed in tandem for two people on the brink of death. No, make that three dying people -- one of them physically, the others in their heart of hearts. The end result: Dancing spirits, fully alive to God and all that's good!
Listen to the GODcast!
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The group called Dead Can Dance record all of their music in an old Irish church.
Even so, co-leader Brendan Perry says, "If we could only keep the oral traditions going, and leave the clerical bull behind...."
Ah yes. And don't we all wish for that now and then?
I love DCD's eerily spiritual music, their lyrics sometimes in English, or Gaelic, in some kind of Middle Eastern dialect, or just plain "speaking in tongues." And part of me longs with them for a whole lot less of organized-religion bull.
Maybe that's why I used their name as my title for this week's Gospel story.
You see, Jesus also had a low tolerance for clerical bull.
It's a wonder, then, that the president of the local synagogue sought him out right there in public, looking for a miracle in the most desperate way. His 12 year old daughter was at the edge of death; she'd never grow up to be the fine young woman of his fatherly dreams.
Mark says the man threw himself down at Jesus' feet and begged him to help.
Dignity and pride, prestige and power, out the window just like that!
To say nothing of any prejudice he'd held against this upstart young rabbi who delighted in sticking it to the spiritual status quo every way he could.
Now, I'm a pretty traditional Presbyterian minister. I tend to get uncomfortable when we don't do it "the way we always did." Speak in tongues? Dance in the aisles? Do something new without forming a committee? It makes me more nervous than I'd care to admit.
What would it take for me to do what this guy did?
Well, if someone I loved more than life was dying right in front of my eyes, that would do the trick. You see, this father was dying, too. Inch by inch, a heartbeat at a time, he died a thousand deaths.
So when Jesus did indeed raise the man's dead daughter (Yes! She passed before he could reach their house!) it was a resurrection for two right then and there.
The family and neighbors who'd come to mourn her death now tuned up to play and sing the most joyous music this world has ever heard.
Dead can dance? Even Calvinists with two left feet (me, for instance) would have to take to the dance floor when that most amazing party got jumping! No need to worry there about how to coordinate feet and knees and hips or about trying to stay on the beat.
Just dance, for God's sake!
I'll take that over clerical bull any day of the week.
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P.S. The story in Mark 5 actually includes another miracle right in the middle of this one. If you're curious, click on my GODcast link and give it a listen.
posted by Jack Buckley at
11:54 AM
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