The 12 Days Before Gaza: #4

A trip doesn't begin the moment we board the plane. Not the moment we pack, either. This trip has been... well, a TRIP for a long time, with the planning, conference calls, emotional roller coasters, etc.

Last night we went to a party. A woman who is a member of the activist community always throws a big bash about this time every December. Her dinky house is filled with wonderful people who work for social justice. The house is so small and so crowded that when someone wants to walk from the living room to the kitchen, EVERYONE gets to move in order for that to happen. It's a dance. It's a microcosm of the macrocosm - one movement affects the whole.

At the party, a beautiful woman, an elder, who is maybe 80, encouraged me, supported me, applauded me, and empowered me regarding my trip. That is the work of our elders. That is who I want to be for those who come behind me.

In living life, we are meant to go out, to risk everything, to find that which is bigger than who we think we are.

~~~

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, circumstances may be changing for some of the people with whom I have planned to travel. Things may be shaking up a little. That has made me look inside to get clear about why I decided to go in the first place. What drives me? If it ends up that my reasons for going no longer exist, do I still go?

In the end, I have realized that it doesn't matter whether I go or not. Whatever I do, I will not change the world too much , but either way, one movement affects the whole. Let it be a dance.


Reminds me of a song..


LET IT BE A DANCE
by Ric Masten

Let it be a dance we do.
May I have this dance with you?
Through the good times
And the bad times, too,
Let it be a dance.

Let a dancing song be heard.
Play the music say the words,
Fill the sky with sailing birds.
Let it be a dance.
Let it be a dance.
Let it be a dance
Learn to follow, learn to lead,
Feel the rhythm, fill the need.
To reap the harvest, plant the seed.
And let it be a dance....Chorus.

Everybody turn and spin,
Let your body learn to bend,
and, like a willow with the wind,
Let it be a dance.
Let it be a dance.
Let it be a dance
A child is born, the old must die,
A time for joy, a time to cry.
Take it as it passes by.
And let it be a dance....Chorus.

Morning star comes out at night,
Without the dark there is no light.
If nothing's wrong, then nothing's right.
Let it be a dance.
Let it be a dance.
Let it be a dance
Let the sun shine, let it rain,
Share the laughter, bare the pain,
And round and round we go again.
Let it be a dance....Chorus.