March 28, 2012 Wednesday: 5th Week of Lent (B)
Where Mourning and Dancing Touch Each Other
"[There is] a time for mourning, a time for
dancing" (Ecclesiastes 3:4).
But mourning and dancing are never fully separated. Their "times" do not
necessarily follow each other. In
fact, their "times" may become one "time." Mourning may turn into dancing and
dancing into mourning without showing a clear point where one ends and the
other starts.
Often our grief allows us to choreograph our dance while our
dance creates the space for our grief.
We lose a beloved friend, and in the midst of our tears we discover an
unknown joy. We celebrate a
success, and in the midst of the party we feel deep sadness. Mourning and dancing, grief and
laughter, sadness and gladness - they belong together as the sad-faced clown
and the happy-faced clown, who make us both cry and laugh. Let's trust that the beauty of our
lives becomes visible where mourning and dancing touch each other.
-Fr. Henri Nouwen
