Dancing with God

Here is a poem I wrote a few years ago.  It seems appropriate to my circumstance right now. 

You danced with the heavens and the earth, with the darkness and the light

You waltzed the universe into being with your hovering spirit

And you saw that it was good.

You danced Adam into being also, but sensed he needed another partner too

You gave him Eve, watched them and ordered their steps

And made grace out of their bumbling.

Then you danced with them both, in the cool of the garden

And they knew the warmth of your touch

But they switched partners when the serpent cut in.

You danced with Noah as he built, though to him it didn’t make sense

And you kept him close as the rain poured

And held on tighter through the thunder.

And even after the flood, you tried to dance with mankind

But they wanted to do it their own way and made noise of the music

So that now some of them have forgotten all the steps.

You asked Abraham to dance, though it took him awhile to get out on the floor

And even then he stumbled quite a bit

But yet he kept on to a good old age, full of years, gathered to his people.

Isaac danced with you all the way up on the altar

And you were delighted in his surrender and the merging of your bodies

But then he took it all for granted, and ended up sitting it out mostly.

Jacob wanted to wrestle instead

All his life you tried to teach him the steps

And he finally got it, and danced leaning on his staff

Joseph danced with you all his life

Whether in pit, prison, or palace

Teaching others to dance with his forgiveness.

You dance with me, also, though I’m mostly out of step

But you have blessed me with rare moments of grace

When I trusted the dancer not the dance.

What is the difference between 

                                    Grace and bumbling

                                    Order and stumbling  

wrestling and dancing?

The difference is the answer to one question:  

                                                              Who is in the lead?