Liberty Day 2014

For several years our family has attended Liberty Day in central Illinois.  Liberty Day is a celebration of Patrick Henry's famous "Give me Liberty or Give me Death" speech.  Check it out (and watch the award-winning trailer) at www.libertyday.net.  Hoping to see you at Liberty Day 2014!

Dancing, Bowing, And Chivalry

I wrote on the importance of dance and the covenant community last time, but now I will take on a different aspect of the historical dance. This time it is bowing. What exactly is meant when one bows to a partner in a dance? For a few years, bowing meant nothing to me. It was the beginning of the dance, to be cut out if I was moving slower than the rest of the line. But Kevin Swanson and Dave Buehner altered my concept of dance and bowing after I listened to their radio show on “Dancing with the Stars”. Now I believe that there are at least two important concepts at work here: greeting and chivalry.
1. Greeting
When I bow, I greet my partner in an honorable way. Bowing shows honor to the person receiving it, similar to removing one’s hat. James Fenimore Cooper and N. C. Wyeth bring this out in Last of the Mohicans, as General Montcalm bows to Colonel Monro. Montcalm shows honor to Monro, despite the fact that they bombarded each other with cannons for six days. This idea is elaborated on in Point #2.

2. Chivalry
Bowing also shows chivalry. When I bow, I say by my actions that my partner is a lady, worthy to be treated with respect and honor. On the other hand, her curtsy says that I am a gentleman to be followed and treated with honor. These concepts are as far from egalitarianism (men and women equal in marriage and everything else) as they are from romance. By curtsying, she explodes egalitarianism, by acknowledging my headship. My bow does the same for romance, by committing to treat her with honor and as one to be protected. One may be wondering if these concepts flow through my brain as I bow. Yes, they did. When I bowed, I mentally promised to treat my partner as an honorable lady.
In conclusion, can one make such a big deal of just a simple bow? I believe so. Bowing and curtsying reinforces God’s design for men and women while avoiding the pitfalls of egalitarianism and romance. As one does it in dance, it also guards against one more problem: that of exaggerated bowing to impress one’s partner. It is difficult to bow in an exaggerated fashion when one has less than fifteen seconds (or however long it is) in which to do it.

I also learned an intensely practical lesson. I know why gorgets were worn by officers only on duty and not off duty…especially when they danced. The gorget has a tendency to fly into the wearer’s face when he bows.

Dance and Covenant Community

Dancing is, in my humble opinion, an excellent symbol of the covenant community, or church. My family and I attended the 2012 Family Economics Conference/Liberty Day, where the celebration closed out with historic dancing. Some people believe that dancing is, if not inherently ungodly, at least fatally flawed. I disagree with this position (see Point #2), but send me a comment for a more in-depth discussion on the topic.

In the three different dances at Liberty Day, I noticed several important things. I am certain that there were exceptions, yet the atmosphere encouraged community and discouraged individualism.

1. Bearing with each other
In the dance, it could be easy for the "veterans" to look down on the "green hands." However, this was not the case. Those who understood would explain (quickly) what someone should be doing. And those being corrected would take correction and immediately change. This was also the case with the instructor/caller.

2. Unity
In many modern dances, the emphasis is on the couple or person. I believe that the abuses from this cause many to reject dance altogether. When anything is focused on man, trouble is always near. Not so here. The emphasis (especially in the circular dances) was on the covenant community, who have come to encourage, challenge, and enjoy each other. Even in a paired dance (Virginia Reel) the emphasis still was on community. Could one pair do this all by themselves? Of course not!

3. Joyfulness
As important as all these lessons are for the church, they pale in comparison to this one: joyfulness. Too many Christians are so gloomy. The Democrats will sweep the elections this year! The Antichrist will come soon! The weather is wet and rainy!
We serve the God who is winning. Shouldn't we be joyful? And these dances were joyful. Of course, many of the dancers were as well.

These are a few of the important lessons I learned at the historic dances. And, yes, I enjoyed myself heartily.

For further study, Peter Bringe’s outline on Trinitarian Dance is excellent, as is Kevin Swanson’s radio show called “Dancing with the Stars”, which presents the right and wrong views of dance.