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“I won’t take no for an answer,"
God began to say
to me
when He opened His arms each night
wanting us to
dance.

The story of the Nativity which Christians and many non-Christians alike gather to commemorate each year is where this dance began. Catherine of Siena, a 14th-century mystic who regarded God's heart being "more gentle than the Virgin's first kiss upon the Christ," penned this poem to invite us to re-imagine God as a lover whispering, "Shall we dance?"

Have you ever danced with God? When was your last dance with the One who is the-love-embodied? Have you forgotten the steps and are a bit embarrassed to take God's hand? Perhaps you have never learned. Or are you too broken, too grief-stricken, too scared or too angry to even desire to take the first step?

We discovered earlier this year that our beautiful dance hall — St. Hilda's sanctuary — needs to be rebuilt due to structural issues. Yet our dance this Christmas continues because the dancer "won't take no for an answer." And here you are, joining us yet once again gazing into the starlit manger to savour the longing, intimacy, and excitement of Dancing with the Stars. Could I ask you to take a moment this Christmas to consider supporting St. Hilda's towards the cost of re-building our sanctuary where many first and future dances begin?

This Christmas let this peace-child, Jesus, be your Lord of the Dance so that you may dance to your wholeness, dance to a better world, and dance to a joyous hope where all are at home. Merry Christmas!


Dance, then, wherever you may be, I am the Lord of the Dance, said he,
And I'll lead you all, wherever you may be,
and I'll lead you all in the Dance, said he.

Clarence