More Thoughts from ‘Lousy T-Shirt’

Good quote on abiding today from I Became a Christian and All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt:

The monks have a theological idea they call perichoresis. They believe that God the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit exist together in a sort of choreographed dance of love. Since the beginning of time they’ve been tangoing, moving together in a beautiful embrace. And we are invited into that dance. We get to spend our days dancing with God. In fact, we were created in God’s image, and so if God is always dancing, we were designed to dance too. Our lives were meant to be a dance with God - and a dance is passionate, interactive, fun at times, romantic at others.

Abiding looks like a dance with God. Now when you dance with someone it’s typically awkward at first. You’re very aware of what you’re doing, of what the other person is doing, of the correct steps you’re supposed to be taking. But when people continue dancing together, eventually it becomes totally comfortable. You stop having to think about what you or the other person is doing or the correct steps to follow. It all becomes very natural. In fact, if you watch people who can really dance, it’s sometimes almost hard to tell where one person ends and the other begins.

And that’s what God is after with us. That’s what abiding looks like. It’s a moment-by-moment sharing of life with him that may be awkward at first. In the beginning it may take great conscious effort. And there may be embarrassing trips and falls and stepping on toes. But slowly it becomes more and more instinctive, effortless, and enjoyable. Eventually, we might even come to a place where it’s not that I have to practice the presence of God and remember to focus on and spend my time with him. It will be like we’re one person, connected and “lost” in each other.

Posted 05.31.2008

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