Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance,
and the young men and the old shall be merry.
I will turn their mourning into joy,
I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.”
NL Daily Devotion for Tuesday, July 8, 2025
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
I love to dance. I don’t do it nearly enough. It’s hard when you go to bed at around 9:00pm every day and most clubs don’t start up until 10. I’ve recently been taking ballroom dance classes and they have been a blast. Feeling rhythm and joy in my body is a beautiful experience. I don’t hold with Christian traditions that forbid dancing, The Bible is too full of dance, of music, of joy. I see God dancing in the leaves on a breezy morning, in the waves on bodies of water, in the flights of birds and the acrobatics of squirrels. When I lose myself in music God is right there with me. And just as God feels our pain and grief when life is challenging, God feels our joy and exuberance when we experience it.
May we all dance as often as we can in whatever way we can.
How do I feel God’s presence when I am joyful?
