Dance

One of the things that fascinate me most about Sophie is her sensitivity to music - particularly rhythm.

Rhythm. Timed beats and pulses that make up the repeating patterns of movement and rest throughout a piece or song. Drums, rap and percussion. They make her dance. It seems only natural to her to stop what she is doing and let the rhythm take her over.

It never fails to amuse us whenever Sophie interprets R&B in the middle of the crowded shopping mall. She lingers in the delightful moment there and then, without a care in the world. You could watch if you like - or not - and it wouldn't matter. Sways, bobs and rocks. So real and beautiful the way she is. Sometimes, I am unaware of the music in the background until she dances. This proves how possible it is to hear but ignore the message spoken, the songs sung... the voice in the wilderness.

Then again, this is what childhood is about. Lingering in the present simply because the future is too faraway. It encompasses the ability to savour simple pleasures amidst the ordinary and humdrum - something that we seem to grow less and less adept at as we age. We no longer play games, jump into puddles, pop the bubble-wrap, chase butterflies, play peekaboo, dance in the rain, and suck our thumbs just because they taste salty and good. Lingering in the present also encompasses taking time to appreciate a given situation - good or bad. Lingering in the present is hard to do because of the pressure to live for the future. We are distracted by the future. We save up the moolah that we would have spent willingly on candies when we were kids, in order that it goes toward bigger and better things in store. We are bent on pursuing independence. We fidget in the face of uncertainties. Crying, we say, is a waste of time because it achieves nothing. We race each other to the finishing line, just because the winner takes it all. (As a mom, I fret unceasingly over baby milestones, toilet-training, tantrums, and Sophie's education.) I am of course not advocating that we remain in the naivety of childhood. Grow up, we must (and so must Sophie). I am also not saying that we should live frivolously, unconcerned about the future. Like it or not, future's horizon draws near; and we must prepare for it in the present. The mistakes of the past should not be repeated (easier said than done). However, in growing up and in anticipating the future, it is important that we lose not the awe.... neither are we distracted from the signs of God's goodness in the present. Unless we imitate little children in that aspect, we will miss the Kingdom of Heaven (cf. Matt 18:3). The Kingdom is not just in the future. It is now. It has come. Eternity has embraced time because the eternal Word was made flesh to dwell among the timed Creation. In the arms of Eternity, Time is redeemed so that the tears of the past and the blows of the present make sense. Past and present cannot but join hands and march forward into that everlasting celebration when the King returns.

How sweet it is that the Creator of time - He who lives in a timeless eternity - limits Himself to tarry with us in our present circumstances - to comfort, guide, and empower.  What is a thousand or two thousand years to Him? And yet His fingerprints are found in the very details of human history. In our todays. He is with us in our battles, disappointments and victories throughout time. He saves and delivers. He throws in the lovely surprises for us to stumble upon. And He gives us the rhythm meanwhile - so that we may tap our feet and dance if we listen intently - and find its beats. As we sway, nod and rock in our authentic little ways, may we trace His patterns that give us hope - the assurance of His presence and grace.

He dances with us. In the brilliant pink sunset as well as night-fall. In the pretty field of flowers as well as over the dry, thorny ground. Upon the lofty mountain-top as well as in the gulfs of wilderness. In the boat and out of the boat. In sunshine and storm. Let us not miss the signs.