This evening I have been to watch a contemporary dance performance which considered the themes of loss and reconstruction following loss.
It was a fascinating portrayal of how loneliness can feel and how other people are essential in carrying us through times of bereavement and in helping us to restructure our lives.
There were six dancers in the piece and each one of them, at one point in the performance, was the 'odd one out' - the one by themselves. The one dancing alone. The one who was experiencing loss of some kind.
They each had a moment of dancing solo.
But then the other five would come and gather around them and physically support and strengthen them. They would dance alongside them and lift and carry them.
It was a beautiful image.
And it was another wonderful picture of what God imagines the church to be like.
Paul writes,
"The way God designed our bodies is a model for understanding our lives together as a church: every part dependent on every other part, the parts we mention and the parts we don’t, the parts we see and the parts we don’t. If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt, and in the healing. If one part flourishes, every other part enters into the exuberance."
[1 Corinthians 12:25-26 MSG]
I love that line: every other part is involved in the hurt, and in the healing.
In the same way that the dancers in tonight's performance were all involved in each other's hurt and healing, this is what God envisions and longs for in His church.
