The Lord of the Dance

When I was very young and first going to church (Church of England, St James’, Emsworth, Hampshire UK) there was this song that was sung which I really liked.

Dance then, wherever you may be, for I am the Lord of the Dance said he

And I’ll lead you all, wherever you may be, I’ll lead you all in the Dance, said he

As a small child, I wasn’t handed the hymn book initially so having a good musical ear I would sing along as best I could.

Now, in my family we had this sofa that was blue and green and made of some delightful bobbly-feeling material and I loved sitting on it.  It was amazing too, because at Christmas it would fold out so that my aunt and uncle (friends of my mum and dad) could sleep on it.  I thought it was just magical.

My mum called it a ‘settee’.

So, when I first heard the above song I thought the words were

Dance then, wherever you may be, for I am the Lord of the Dance SETTEE

And I’ll lead you all, wherever you may be, I’ll lead you all in the dance SETTEE.

When singing this song I would have a delightful image of Jesus, God, me and all the angels bouncing up and down on this magical settee, all pulled out into a double bed just like when my aunt and uncle came to stay.  It made me so happy!

Reality strikes

As you can imagine, when I did finally get handed the hymn book I was somewhat discombobulated.  ‘Said he’??  What WAS this heresy??  Needless to say I was quite upset at the time but didn’t feel I could tell my school teacher.  To this day though, whenever I hear that song I still have that image and it makes me happy, which I believe is a good thing.

I thoroughly enjoyed our daily gatherings at our church school.  We always said the Lord’s prayer (no settees in that at least) and I always felt something.  I loved our local church which was a very short walk from the school and always felt my heart open and become peaceful when I entered the church doors.

Teen years and Jesus receded somewhat

Things started to get more difficult in my teen years.  I attended a comprehensive school (in the UK that’s like a middle school and part of High School combined) and there were no more daily assemblies, prayers, or lovely Easter, Harvest time or Christmas ceremonies in the beautiful little Church.

I didn’t really know that I was spiritually deprived by not having those activities because I simply accepted my life as it was, as most young people do at that age.

I did continue on to Sunday School by myself at that time, but after a while I left because when I asked all the questions which applied to me (how did Adam and Eve make children so quickly so that they could end up marrying each other…wasn’t that wrong if they were brothers and sisters…did the snake really speak) — and so on and so forth — unfortunately the couple who ran the Sunday school found themselves ill-equipped to give me answers which satisfied me without making them angry.  Ultimately I left.

A return to spirit

Much like my older teen daughter, I chose to get on with growing and finding out who I was – no mean feat at that age.  I always felt beautiful feelings heading into church which I would also feel when walking in nature or working with crystals, energy work or prayer as time went by.

Ultimately when studying with a spiritual mentor of mine – we have been friends for over 20 years – he asked me who guided me in my work.  Feeling somewhat surprised I listed some Ascended Masters who regularly pop in when I work — White Buffalo Calf Woman (Lakota tradition), Anya (EMF Balancing Technique®) and then to my amazement I realized he had been there all along.  So I said rather hesitantly “Er…Jesus Christ, actually”.  And he had been there all along.

You may say Jesus Christ, I say Christ Consciousness

I have always found it hard to ascribe to the thought of a vengeful God and a Christ who died for our sins.  ‘Sin’ in old English means ‘missing the mark’.  I personally resonate more with the concept that Jesus was an early Ascended Master who had amazing skills and abilities which frightened those in control (and also made some of his ‘friends’ and acquaintances jealous and scared).   So they did him in.  Those were the sins committed at the time.

As heretical as it may sound to some, I prefer the idea that we all have our own sins to deal with and that we account for them when we pass in our life review.  But that’s probably a big subject for another blog post.

So when I feel Jesus, I feel a risen consciousness and power that has nothing to do with his life on Earth.  To me he manifests as complete Love, complete Compassion, complete Healing, in this life, the next, or through the veil.  And he’s got a sense of humor!

And I still maintain that he’d love to dance on that settee with me. :-)