I Dance in Rubber Boots

A couple days ago, I posted a nerdy article about open world gaming and the playful world of Proverbs 8.  I called for another perspective on Creation and to recognize the delightful complexity and playfulness of God.  There's a reason for that.

Theology is: 1) A science, 2) An art and 3) The responsibility of every human being on earth.

Theology is a science. There are things to be studied, texts to be gleaned, boundary lines to be drawn and a range of meaning to explore. I thrive in this part.  I learned the language(s). I learned the lingo. I know the authors and the schools of thinking. I've got this. I reflect like there's no tomorrow.

Theology is an art. I'm not so sure I have this one down. I read my friends' work and think "I wish I could have seen it like that." My eyes are my eyes, I suppose, but if the grass can be greener on the other side, than certainly my friends' eyes can be greener than my own. Theology is more than something to be studied, lest it become solely the work of the professionals. Theology is meant to be lived, breathed, and played with. Theology is to be treated more like a basketball from the garage and less like an autographed basketball on a collector's shelf.  That is, theology is for you to do as well.

And that's why arrive at this: Theology is the responsibility of every human being on earth. We all do theology.  I live my life, you live yours.  Your life reflects an embodied spirit, an inner drive, meaning painted on a plurality of canvas and structure. Your life reveals beauty and struggle, acceptance and fear, God and despair.  We all do theology, in art or science. 

Thus, theology is a dance in which we are all involved.  And I dance in rubber boots.  I know the movements. I know the rhythm. And still- my muscles are half a beat behind, my feet trying to land anywhere but your toes. Still, I keep plodding through the dance. Proverbs 8 is important because it reminds me that the point of dancing is to let loose and participate. The strongest voice fighting Wisdom in my own spirit is the voice of envy, the voice saying "Someone will say it better than you can. You dance in rubber boots, let the professionals dance for you."

And to that voice, I can only answer with the climax of "The Silver Linings Playbook" (one of my favorite movies of all time), where two characters living with bipolar fall in love through a dance competition. At the end, their awkward yet energetic dance routine barely attains decent scores, but those scores are celebrated and cherished. As long as I see myself in competition for the most right answers (science) or the most beautifully communicated (art) theology, then I will continue to fail to see how theology is done together.  And so instead, I want to turn up the music and enjoy the dance floor of God's redeeming story.  Just watch out for my rubber boots.