dancing, freedom and theology

"To learn to dance one must take that first step, even if awkwardly. Good theology is more than a tome or a string of good sentences. It is a way of dancing an embodied activity of the human spirit in a community embodying life in Christ. Learning to live in God's presence is something like learning to dance; it is not best learned merely by reading books" (Oden, p. 193).
Dancing has been on my mind since the sock hop on Friday. (Yes, we had a sock hop.) I like this illustration. I am taken back to the days as a middle school girl learning cheerleading dances. I remember that it took time and effort to get the "steps" right, but after I knew the routine correctly, I experienced a freedom and a joy like I had never known. One drumchant stays with me to this day. I will remember this dance until the day I die. Learning it and teaching it for four years in high school made it a permenant part of my life. There is something so free about knowing the method enough to let go of it. I do not naturally have the best rhythm, but I have spent enough time dancing in my life that I know that feeling of freedom. It is easier for me to feel the music because I have invested time and spent energy in dance. I know how to feel the music and let go. It didn't come easy, but it was worth it. I imagine the impulse is similar for a musician. Learning where the particulars of form makes the learning of an instrument worth the while.
Similarly, it is thrilling to then be the teacher. Anytime I have ever taught someone a dance I have found it to be an utterly enjoyable experience. The moment that they stop thinking steps or moves and start feeling the music I share in their freedom. It's like opening the cage for a bird. What joy it is to participate in someone else's experience of liberation!
That is my prayer. I want to know theology; I want to know God. I want to have practiced and studied the ways to worship God well enough that in all circumstances I can let go and just be uninhibited in it. Knowing God is kind of like being a well rounded dancer. Let's be honest, knowing how to do middle school cheer leading dances does not make me a comprehensive dancer, but a professional dancer would have studied all types of dance. May I seek to learn comprehensive ways of knowing our God. I pray that the more I learn the method the freer I will become to just feel the movement.
Soundtrack: Knowing You, Passion and Freedom, Darrell Evans, and Wild Thing, Tone-Loc (note: this is the song of the drum chant)