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Who Do You Say That You Are?

Writer's picture: evansph2evansph2

Updated: Jun 13, 2024




This week I am passing along a poem by my friend and colleague Cynthia-Winton Henry.  (You can see her blog by clicking HERE)

 

She has written a job description for herself.  Perhaps you’d like to write your own after you’ve read hers!  Fondly,  Penny


Cynthia writes; I wrote my first book, Chasing the Dance of Life: A Faith Journey in my forties in an attempts to understand my humorous and challenging encounters with the Divine and what leads me to take odd risks. Where others might push wierdness to the side, as an artist and dancer, i felt I had permission to "go for it" whatever "it" is.


"In that half-lit place between what others say you can do and what I know I do, I needed the courage to name my reality. If I didn't, others always would. So, I scoured the dictionary in search of a job title and found Mystagoguer; a leader initiated in mysteries, and Mysteriarch; one who presides over mysteries. Then I wrote;


JOB DESCRIPTION FOR A DANCING MYSTIC


Seize ancient books of wisdom

prowl uneasy caverns,

glean secret knowledge,

throw treasures deliriously

into the silver bowl of life

with a clatter.


Uncover ornate,

dust-thick tablets,

ecclesiastical codex

entitled salvation,

grace, eternal life.

Trace the tree roots back to

flesh, spit, mud, breath and joy.


In prayer halls of dance

scrutinize raw data, research

love's divine encyclopedia --

the body.


Enroll in tutorials with

sacred dancers, godsons,

angels, hummingbirds,

Mennonite psychics,

African spirits and

the Tree of Life.


Practice the spiritual

disciplines of dance:

fall, rise, shake,

balance, breathe, let go.


Uphold sacred irreverence,

the right to laugh, no matter

what authorities say.


Leap rational walls.

Construct healing routes

that resurrect physicality.


Usher in dance, story,

and stillness.

Improvise to turn the key

and unlock spirit's gates.


Maintain a mystic's curiosity.

Concoct rituals.

Chase lost energy.

Metabolize former lives.

Coordinate reunions

of body and soul.

Shoot rapids.

Take to the stars.


Make peace with having

nothing, no time, nobody,

no place, nothing to say.


Dance circles around suffering:

abuse, murder, expulsion,

divorce, obsession, hate

disease and accusation.

Handle blades of rage,

knives of clarity and

the power to kill off.


Dream and translate dreams.

Master technologies.

Teach rapture.


Seek out the terrified,

crazy, advanced beings

made visible by humility's kiss

no longer fearful of being called silly.

Look for bright eyes shining in

the dark fields of unknowing.

~Cynthia Winton-Henry






 

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