"Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you." And he said to them, "What is it you want me to do for you?" And they said to him, "Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory." Mark 10: 35-37

"Who are you dancing for?" That's a line from the musical A Chorus Line. That's a line that brings forth a world of meaning. Who are you dancing for? I attend a colleague group of clergy and as a group, we work on family systems theory with a trained facilitator. Family systems theory was pioneered in the work of Murray Bowen and brought to congregations and synagogues by the late Rabbi Edwin Freidman. Family systems theory points out that while we grow as children of God as individuals with unique characteristics, gifts and challenges, we also grow as individuals in community. Indeed, it is the community which also forms and shapes us in profound way. The community for us includes many groups, but the seminal group is our childhood family system. So, working within a family system model, one can look at challenging issues in one's work life, current adult relational life, and one's parish life by examining one's own childhood family and its issues as well as making space for the childhood family issues of others in one's current community. In essence, what this involves is compassion and understanding for one another and the history we each bring to the tables of our lives. It's hard work! But I believe that Jesus worked much in this way.

Last week, our Gospel reading concerned the Rich Young Man. The young man wanted so very much to follow Jesus. Jesu knew that his attachment to his riches would prevent him from being a true member of the disciple band. Jesus loved him, yet was able to draw a gospel boundary--for the rich young man to become part of his community, he would have to leave behind this part of his life. As for the rich young man's background, perhaps he grew up in poverty and feared to be without the security of his riches. Or perhaps his father was a patrician leader of the community and the rich young man, as the eldest son, was annointed by his family to live into his father's role. We do not know. But it is a good guess that the rich young man's inability to follow Jesus had something to do with a fear which arose from his earlier life. Jesus is saying "Let go of the fear. That was then. This is now." However, for the rich young man, the fear was too strong. Who is the rich man dancing for? Will he one day be able to dance for God?

This week, we tune into the not-so-merry disciples arguing about who is the favorite. For those of us who have siblings, it is not such a hard thing to imagine. Jesus alerts the disciples that being the one to the right or left is not all about approval and smiles. Being the right hand son or daughter involves great responsibility and hard choices. Then, Jesus says, "well, forget all the posturing and competition, what the Way of Love and Community is really about is serving one another." I don't know if the disciples ever gave up posturing before Jesus while Jesus was alive. Were the disciples really and truly dancing for God? Were they able to serve?

Evelyn Underhill, a great spiritual writer of the 20th century, said this about the spiritual life:

For a spiritual life is simply a life in which all we do comes from the centre, where we are anchored in God: a life soaked through and through by a sense of his reality and claim, and self-given to the great movement of his will.

Most of our conflicts and difficulties comes from trying to deal with the spiritual and practical aspects of our life separately instead of realizing them as parts of one whole. If our practical life is centered on our own interests, cluttered up by possessions, distracted by ambitions, passions, wants and worries, beset by a sense of our own rights and importance, or anxieties about the future, or longings for our own success, we need not expect that our spiritual life will be a contrast to all this. The soul's house is not built on such a convenient plan; there are few soundproof partitions in it. From The Spiritual Life. Much of the spiritual journey is about letting go of those pieces that catch us up--that keep us from realizing the true child of God that we are created to be. In the Gospel stories, watch Jesus recognize those attachments in others and celebrate when someone has let go of an attachment for the God-given in one's life. Family relationships, earthly wealth, ambition---any and everything that keeps the human fear at bay instead of relying God's love to get us through is fair game for letting go. We can't dance for God when our arms are full of possessions, our minds full of ambitious plans, and our hearts full of other allegiances.

Who are you dancing for?

Text: Mark 10

Pondering: Where do you find your catching point in your communities? What brings you up short? Take a look at your own childhood history--where can God heal? What do you need to let go of to dance for God?

In Christ's Love,

The Rev. Martha N. Macgill