you danced

BB Notes

OK, picture this... seven white guys in a van, deep in the bush of Sierra Leone, Africa, one of the poorest countries in the world.  My group was going to visit some of the villages we've "adopted" in a partnership with World Vision.   So we get to the first village, with no running water and no electricity, I'm talking the poorest of the poor.  And there's all the residents waiting outside the village to greet us with singing & dancing!  And so I got out of the van and joined them and danced with the Africans!  I was swept into their joy.

So what am I missing here?  Amidst those desparate conditions, they had joy?!  They clearly share some secret with Heaven that I don't get.

Paul knew the secret too.  Check out Phil 4:12.  "I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want."

As much as I thought we were going to save the Africans, turns out their saving me, and teaching me about the true source of joy & contentment.  Here's a hint on the secret... oh, you'll figure it out.  Listen deep.

Lyrics

I walked among your people
I held your mud-stained hands
I touched your hungry children
When I traveled to your land
You drank your dirty water
I thought my heart might break
From all your desperate poverty
Then you left me amazed, when

You danced
Threw your hands up in the air and laughed
At a secret you and heaven share
You danced
With a joy that I just could not understand
In a simple act of praise
You danced

What time have I been wasting
Pursuing happiness
Yet never really learning
To be content with less
I want to learn the secret
Of those who danced for me
With beautiful abandon
I want to be that free

Chorus

If we stay close
Close to the source and drink from that well
The well that flows
Flows with the spring of life itself
Then the fullness of joy will be ours
The fullness of joy will be ours

We'll dance
Throw our hands up in the air and laugh
At a secret we and heaven share
We'll dance
With a joy deeper than we understand
In a simple act of praise
With our hearts so full of thanks
We'll dance

© 2008  Staci Frenes/Brian Bates