My twin sister, Carla De Sola, a sacred dance leader, is compiling a book about Kairos moments of dancers where the felt the presence of God. Even though I am not a sacred dancer, or a dancer, at all, out of charity she asked me to contribute a piece about this type of dance I do. She thought it very funny!
Confessions of a Klutz
by Ronda De Sola Chervin
One of the most life-changing lines I ever read was this one from G.K. Chesterton: “Anything worth doing, is worth doing badly.”
Imagine being a unidentical twin-sister to a dancer as sublimely graceful as Carla De Sola!
When we were teens, we used to go to Square Dances at a Unitarian Church in New York City. My twin, Carla, was always selected among the first five girls as a partner in the dances. When un-chosen even at the very end of the selection process, I would hide in the Ladies’ Room so as not to be a wall-flower!
Just the same, I loved to dance! So, years later when I became a speaker about spirituality at Catholic conferences, I had my big moment.
A writer of many books about the saints, I would lay a pretty heavy trip on my audiences with confrontations about becoming holy such as:
“How come if you asked all the people who know you from the family, the workplace, and the Church, what is your worst fault, they would all agree and you would be surprised?”
Or, just as challenging:
“If you were going to Wal-Mart to buy 6 T-shirts and you saw a starving woman sitting outside, with a baby at her breast and no milk in it to feed her, wouldn’t you buy 1 T-shirt and give the rest of the money to her? Of course? But, then, you think, who knows, donations to the poor usually are used by the charity’s administrators, not really for the poor. But Mother Teresa’s Sisters in India don’t even have toilet paper, so give to them. Here’s the address of the Missionaries of Charity in the Bronx, New York City.”
So, by the end of the talk, the group listening can feel kind of overwhelmed.
At that point I gesture to the music ministers and they start playing “When the Saints go Marching in,” and I lead them into a circle dance around the hall. By the time we get to “O Lord, I want ta be in that number,” they are refreshed and full of hope for themselves and for the whole world.
Not exactly sacred dance but, heh, “anything worth doing is worth doing badly.”
Ronda Chervin is a retired professor of philosophy and the author of numerous Catholic books. (www.rondachervin.com)
Confessions of a Klutz
by Ronda De Sola Chervin
One of the most life-changing lines I ever read was this one from G.K. Chesterton: “Anything worth doing, is worth doing badly.”
Imagine being a unidentical twin-sister to a dancer as sublimely graceful as Carla De Sola!
When we were teens, we used to go to Square Dances at a Unitarian Church in New York City. My twin, Carla, was always selected among the first five girls as a partner in the dances. When un-chosen even at the very end of the selection process, I would hide in the Ladies’ Room so as not to be a wall-flower!
Just the same, I loved to dance! So, years later when I became a speaker about spirituality at Catholic conferences, I had my big moment.
A writer of many books about the saints, I would lay a pretty heavy trip on my audiences with confrontations about becoming holy such as:
“How come if you asked all the people who know you from the family, the workplace, and the Church, what is your worst fault, they would all agree and you would be surprised?”
Or, just as challenging:
“If you were going to Wal-Mart to buy 6 T-shirts and you saw a starving woman sitting outside, with a baby at her breast and no milk in it to feed her, wouldn’t you buy 1 T-shirt and give the rest of the money to her? Of course? But, then, you think, who knows, donations to the poor usually are used by the charity’s administrators, not really for the poor. But Mother Teresa’s Sisters in India don’t even have toilet paper, so give to them. Here’s the address of the Missionaries of Charity in the Bronx, New York City.”
So, by the end of the talk, the group listening can feel kind of overwhelmed.
At that point I gesture to the music ministers and they start playing “When the Saints go Marching in,” and I lead them into a circle dance around the hall. By the time we get to “O Lord, I want ta be in that number,” they are refreshed and full of hope for themselves and for the whole world.
Not exactly sacred dance but, heh, “anything worth doing is worth doing badly.”
Ronda Chervin is a retired professor of philosophy and the author of numerous Catholic books. (www.rondachervin.com)
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