We live in a sea of
ideas. We usually don’t think about our
lives that way, but it is true. What
this means is many of us live lives of unawareness. We go about our routines without much
attention to the sea of ideas we encounter.
Of course, some of us deal with more ideas than others. Certainly in my job as a college professor, I
am surrounded by a myriad of ideas.
Not all ideas are
profound. In fact, the majority of ideas
probably are mundane---pretty much run of the mill. And not all ideas are novel. In fact, most ideas are not novel. For sure, not all ideas are useful or
practical. I have had my share of dumb
ideas in the past! And I have had my
share of bad ideas.
Recently, I was
reading a piece just for the fun of it.
I was not intending to use any ideas for a class or anything else. It was really just for the fun of it. But I noticed the piece was using a couple of
my favorite authors. My attention was
alerted when I saw that Stanley Hauerwas was commenting on “real” love. Hauerwas taught ethics at Duke
University. I don’t agree with
everything he says; in fact, he delights in taking verbal pokes at people and
positions.
But his words I
liked. Hauerwas described real love as
“not unlike Walter Berry’s contrast of ballroom dancing with square dancing.
Both are obviously sexual, but the former, Berry suggests, is the dance of the
capitalist—we dance only with our own.”
That is vintage Hauerwas. The use
of two forms of dancing to talk about love is an interesting idea---a
compelling metaphor. It never would
occur to me to use ballroom dancing as a metaphor for capitalism. It symbolizes a form of love, but not the
most real, most deep form of love. For
that Hauerwas shifts to the metaphor of square dancing.
Listen to his
words. “In the square dance, however, we
start with our own and then from the intensity of that pairing are sent out to
couple, to be sure not in the same way as with our primary partner, but
nonetheless set out to be with others. We are then rejoined to our own,
enriching the intensity of our original pairing by the movements we have
learned as we have passed through one another’s lives.’ This is a long sentence that includes a
description of the dynamic of the square dance.
I like the idea that I begin the square dance with my own partner. But then I am “set out to be with
others.”
Indeed, as one who
has square danced, this is exactly what happens. One twirls or is twirled from person to
person---in tune with the music---only to wind up with your partner. For Hauerwas this symbolizes how one learns
to love. Even though he puts it in
Christian terms, I am not sure it is that limited. Nevertheless, hear what he says.
“And so we are to
learn to love one another as Christians, believing that in doing so the
wonderful dance of God’s kingdom becomes even grander and more beautiful.” I like that notion of love being a wonderful
dance. I may even start talking about
“the dance of love,” instead of “the work of love.” It is difficult to imagine the work becoming
more grand and beautiful. But
dancing? Sure!
I like Hauerwas’
concluding remark: “We can risk loving as passionately as God loves. For we
know that the love God makes possible is no scarce resource that must be
hoarded so that it can be distributed in dribs and drabs—a little here and a
little there. Love is not a rare commodity; rather, the more we love with the
intense particularity of God’s love, the more we discover that we have the
capacity to love.” This is an encouraging,
inspiring, and enlightening idea.
Join me…I am going to
do some dancing today!
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