February 12 – “Dances with names”

We had a substitute teacher in my water therapy class yesterday.  Actually she has been a member of the class, but never said much to anyone. She just found her a spot in the back of the pool and quietly went about her business.  Come to find out, when she introduced herself to us, she was certified as a water therapy instructor thirty years ago.  I sure didn’t know it had been around that long.  But then, on second thought, thirty years ago only puts it in the 1980’s.  1984 to be exact.  I can remember 1984, so it couldn’t have been that long ago.  Let’s see.  I was thirty.  We lived in Houston.  Or was it Fort Worth?  I was in school.  No maybe I was just out of school, again.  No, wait.  I had been out of school and was about to start back to school, again.  No, wait.  Uh.  Maybe thirty years ago is a long time. 

The problem with a new teacher is always that they have their own style of doing things.  That can be a problem in this setting because us students have to follow their actions.  When they add new stuff, or use the same terminology to mean something different, it can get really confusing.  Add to that my hearing loss, and things can get … exciting ... really quickly.  Now this teacher was a big fan of dancing.  All of her moves matched up with the music she had playing.  That part I didn’t mind so much.  Not that I was always able to keep up with beat, but then, that never stopped me before.  I just had a problem when she assumed we knew what she was talking about.  Particularly in reference to dances with names.  Some of the names I don’t even remember because I had never heard of them before.  One in particular I knew – waltz – but just because I knew the word didn’t mean I knew how to do it.  Up, side, together, back, side together.  What does that even mean?  Which foot goes up and which foot goes side?  I was finally able to watch her enough to get the sense of it, but I still got my feet tangled up and ran into the lady next to me a few times.  But, hey, I guess that’s what dancing is about, huh?  Meeting new people.  I did OK when she switched to the twist.  That was one I remembered.  And I even saw the physical fitness value to it.  But for the most part I had no clue until I could watch her a time or two.  And any time we had to turn our backs to her as part of the routine, I was really lost.  As luck would have it, her voice fell right into the range of sound that my ears don’t adjust to well at all.  In other words, I could tell that she was giving instructions, but the words just sounded like a garbled mess.  Which meant I had to turn around to see her.  Which meant I more than likely ran into the person behind me.  Come on.  I was a teenager in the late 60’s and early 70’s.  We didn’t do dances with names.  We just moved around on the dance floor with whatever gyrations the music inspired in us.  And for slow dances, which were few and far between as I recall, we just gave each other a big hug and barely swayed back and forth, only occasionally moving our feet.  Sigh.  The good old days. 

Psalms 77:11-12 says, “I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.  I will meditate on all your works and consider all your mighty deeds.”

Father, help me to remember the things that matter.  “Your mighty deeds” is a great place to start.  Amen.