Lord of the dance

Did you know that contrary to popular belief, not all Christians read the same Bible? In fact, some denominations like Catholic and Eastern Orthodox include 14 more books in their Bible. These books are called the Apocrypha and were removed during the Protestant Reformation, so you will not find these books in a standard Protestant Bible. However, to the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox believers, these books are just as sacred as the rest of the Bible.
In addition, there are other books that never made it into anyone’s Canon (a fancy word for the accepted books in the Bible) but are still studied as a means of understanding early Christian thought as people were forming their communal beliefs about Jesus. These include the Gnostic Gospels and Apocryphal Acts, which were deemed heretical and therefore not included in the Bible as we know it today. One such book is the Acts of John, which has been a part of Christian thought for centuries, mentioned (and rejected as heretical) by prominent figures like St. Augustine. One of the main reasons that the Acts of John was deemed heretical is because it seemed to deny the humanity and suffering of Jesus. 

However, despite its rejection as Holy Scripture, there is one story in this book that catches my attention, and it seems to have caught the attention of many other scholars as well. It is often called The Hymn and Dance of Jesus and recounts Jesus leading His disciplines in a dance in the round while singing a hymn. Although not explicitly said, we can infer from the context that this dance likely occurred in the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus agonizingly prayed the night he was betrayed by Judas and arrested by the Roman Soldiers. Thus, we would consider this a dance of Lament, an early example of communal healing through collective, rhythmic movement.

Dance is an important aspect of many rituals and religions around the world. In some overlooked stories in the Bible we see glimpses of Divinely inspired dancing, like Miriam’s dance as the Israelites cleared the Red Sea into freedom (Exodus 15:20) and David’s controversial dance in his underwear to celebrate the return of the Ark of the Covenant (2 Samuel 6:14). However, dance is not a large part of Christianity any longer, and in some circles, it is deemed improper for Christians to dance at all. As someone who enjoys dancing, I find this to be incredibly sad. As someone who has dedicated my life to professions of healing, I find this to be devastating. 

Dance is a powerful healer. In Bessel van der Kolk’s seminal work on trauma and healing, The Body Keeps the Score, he argues that “collective movement and music create a larger context for our lives, a meaning beyond our individual fate, [which is why] religious rituals universally involve rhythmic movements.” Later, he writes, “Along with language, dancing, marching, and singing are uniquely human ways to install a sense of hope and courage.” 

Dance helps us metabolize big emotions and encourages them to move through us. We dance through our grief and our rage and our fear until they dissipate. 

Dance connects us with each other and with the Divine. We dance when we do not have the words but seek the relationships that are formed without them.

Dance reminds us where we came from. Many cultures have been dancing the same steps for generations, and it roots them in the legacy of their past. 

In the Dance of Jesus, all these elements come together in a crescendo right before Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion. It is a dance of hopeful defiance as much as it is a dance of lament. It acknowledges that death is near and yet there is time still to be with one another and praise God. 

​This story in the Acts of John catches my attention because even if the Dance of Jesus didn’t happen, it is still beautiful to imagine a God who dances, and I think it encourages us to dance as well. Besides, if singing is praying twice (St. Augustine), then I believe dancing is praying thrice.​