Tightrope

Mickey Reed provides today’s inspiring reflection. She is a trained facilitator of Joyce Rupp’s Boundless Compassion program and will be presenting a Boundless Compassion retreat at our Center this fall. You can click here to read more about it and to learn about Mickey too. Thanks so much for sharing this reflection, Mickey!

Tightrope

I was in Zumba class when I first heard this song “Tightrope” from the musical The Greatest Showman. The instructor played it as the backdrop for balance exercises where she would coach us in walking in a heel to toe pattern without looking down at our feet. It’s a catchy waltz tune and even though the teacher had the instrumental chorus choreographed I loved to just twirl around in the back corner of the exercise room pretending to dance with a partner.

I love that feeling of spinning in a waltz…. feeling the weight of your partner supporting you and the centrifugal force keeping you from falling down. I learned from a friend, who is a professional dancer, that the best way to keep from getting dizzy is to look right into the eyes my partner and let them lead me around the floor. It’s a surrender–to the laws of the physics of centrifugal force and to a deep trust that your partner is not going to let go.

I immediately downloaded the song to my iTunes account and enjoyed it daily until the Zumba class teacher cycled it off her playlist. It was gradually replaced on my playlist by new “favorites” and forgotten. Now, during the pandemic, the song has come back into my head taking on new meaning as a conversation with God — my ultimate dance partner.

Some people long for a life that is simple and planned
Tied with a ribbon
Some people won’t sail the sea ’cause they’re safer on land

To follow what’s written
But I’d follow you to the great unknown
Off to a world we call our own

Like so many others, because of the pandemic, I find myself walking through a life that is not the simple and planned one I had envisioned even a few months ago. The news media offers a different source a safety from the virus daily and while I follow the advice, based on scientific evidence, my ultimate source of safety comes from my faith in God. The bottom line is that I really have no choice about entering this great unknown, but I can choose my dance partner.

Hand in my hand
And we promised to never let go
We’re walking a tightrope
High in the sky
We can see the whole world down below
We’re walking a tightrope

Never sure, never know how far we could fall
But it’s all an adventure
That comes with a breathtaking view
Walking a tightrope with you

As I listen, I remember my friend’s advice about looking your lead in the eyes and I focus on the image of God holding me as I dance through this kind of life we’ve never experienced before. And in the moments I’m relaxed enough to trust those arms, I can sneak a glance at that breathtaking view…an image of a new world, a beloved community where we all sense a oneness with humanity.

So when I get a little dizzy from all that’s going on, I try now to look into the eyes of my Partner, lean back, trust and enjoy the dance and the ever-changing, breathtaking view.

source: https://www.lyricsondemand.com/soundtracks/g/greatestshowmanlyrics/tightropelyrics.html