"Dance with My King"

by Pastor Laurie

I recently discovered a wonderful South African artist named Maria Magdalena Oosthuizen. One website explains her style and motivation: “She paints figurative portraits emanating innocence and hope that pay tribute both to her devotion to God and her belief in the intrinsic goodness of the people of this world.” Maria has no formal training but grew up around creativity as her mother was an artist. She is inspired by God for he is the creator of all beautiful things, explaining, “He called me for His purpose and in obedience and love of art, I paint with all I am to worship Him. Therefore I pray that each painting will touch you like it touched me whilst painting it."

In this particular piece, I love the looseness and balance of this dancer being held by her King. Life can be like a dance—sometimes beautiful and graceful, sometimes tripping over feet and losing balance. But when I see myself as the one held in the arms of the King, I feel safe and secure.

My sister, who lives in Istanbul, Turkey, is a wonderful playwright and poet. She has a writing on her site (FaithAndDrama.com) called, “This Dance.” I would like to share it with you, and I pray you find it as meaningful as I did.

This Dance

You said
I could dance
—be a dancer
in this dimension, for this time
to this Music
The music is a mystery
—a mystery that I love
but can’t complete
in sync
I don’t always land right
—often get it wrong
missteps
and failed twirls
—I fly wide-open
toward another dancer
and find myself asking
—why didn’t you catch me
they say, why did you fall on me?
when I want to cry
You turn up the music and say
—don’t be afraid, don’t be discouraged
I love your awkward dance
—it’s perfect

Dance on!
Pr. Laurie Neill