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Spiritual reflection to start the day with Rev Richard Frazer of the Church of Scotland.

Good morning.
I like to dance and we are very fortunate here in Scotland that we have simple dances or reels that people love to do at a ceilidh. My favourite is the Reel of the 51st. The story goes that Scottish Prisoners of War came up with the dance during their captivity. An escapee smuggled it out and, before the end of the war, Princess Elizabeth, our then future Queen, had danced it. When I say I like to dance, I have to admit that I am actually a very self-conscious dancer and hopeless at it too. The idea of dancing as though no one is looking is very challenging, and I am unlikely to attain to that.

There is something wonderful about dance and the expressive movement of the human body. Great dance or ballet can tell a story without words and express the deepest of emotion.
For years now, it’s puzzled me that the Christian faith, bound up with words and dogmatic statements as it is, seems at times to neglect the human body, almost as though it is a source of shame and temptation. People often turn to yoga, not just as exercise, but as a form of spiritual practice.

Jesus was always very physical. He touched lepers, spat in the mud to heal a blind man, washed his disciples’ feet and allowed Mary Magdalene to wash his feet with her tears.
When we rediscover our bodies maybe we will learn to cherish not just our bodies but the whole creation with which we share our physical nature.
Someone described the life of the Spirit as a great Cosmic Dance and our faith should invite us to join in.

Living Jesus, loosen our hearts that we might rejoice more fully in creation. From the very beginning, this Universe was declared ‘good’. Your life amongst us, sharing our joys and times of night affirms the worth of what has been made, so help us to join in the dance of life. Amen.