Standing among the other dancers in the studio, I aligned my body in first position (heels together and toes pointed out.) Sternums lifted, lengthening through the back of our knees, we spoke together: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.” And then stretching one pointed toe to the right, lowering the heel, recentering weight between each foot, heels now shoulder-width apart in the second position of ballet, we continued: “and the second is like it. Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Years later, I recognize that everyday practice of moving through the ballet positions paired with Scripture as something that shaped my faith. Weight centered evenly between both feet and spirit centered on God, the practice reminded me that my faith was not just having theologically correct thoughts about life, but the way I move through life, the way I seek to stay aligned with the Spirit and the One in whom we live and move and have our being.
I’m struck by the way opportunities to grow faith overlap with ways to do justice in our communities.
It’s these kinds of everyday moments and relationships that grow our faith that hosts Karen de Boer and Chris Schoon explore with their guests in the first season of the upcoming Open to Wonder podcast from Faith Formation Ministries. Guests Ruth Padilla DeBorst, Reggie Smith, Mike Hogeterp, and Mary Hulst share stories of everyday moments that shaped their faith, including going on walks in creation, playing basketball, sharing meals with others, and listening to nurturing mentors.
Listening to the raw recordings of the episodes prior to release, I’m struck by the way opportunities to grow faith overlap with ways to do justice in our communities. In one episode, Ruth Padilla deBorst shares about the intentional community she lives in called Casa Adobe, sharing living space, meals, and responsibilities with other individuals and families. When asked how folks can practice intentional community in their own contexts, Ruth suggested practical, everyday actions like sharing a lawnmower with your neighbors. What a way to both grow in generosity, steward financial and physical resources, and bless a neighborhood!
It reminds me once again that faith is both grown and expressed through the ways we encounter our days,
I don’t own a lawnmower to share. But as a kinetic learner (a remnant of those ballet days) I wonder if the weight of a cordless drill in my outstretched arm, offered for a neighbor to borrow, might sink the practice of generosity a little deeper in my bones.
In the familiar passage Micah 6:8-- “to do justice and to love kindness and to walk humbly with God”--I love that there’s motion involved. It reminds me once again that faith is both grown and expressed through the ways we encounter our days, our neighbors, and our world as we seek to walk in step with God. To stay tuned for the upcoming release of the Open to Wonder podcast, sign up for Faith Formation Ministries monthly newsletter. We’re excited to wonder together about how our faith grows through the ways we love God and neighbor in the everyday moments of our lives.
Photo by Jess Zoerb on Unsplash
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