My Body is a Cage

One of my new favourite songs - I could listen to it over and over and I have - is "My Body is a Cage" by Arcade Fire. Why do I like it? Well, I do like the genre, but the major thing is the words. Words are very important to me - I don't just sing along to a song. I have to know what's being said and I have to agree. The chorus of this song:

My body is a cage that keeps me
From dancing with the one I love
But my mind holds the key

I sometimes catch myself walking through the house just singing those lines, over and over. It makes me think of our walk with God. The more I get to know Jesus, the more I realise that our whole life here is like a dance, a beautiful, romantic dance with the creator of the universe. The dance is where we learn to trust our 'partner', let Him lead, and finally just to let go and enjoy life. He takes us on sudden turns, exhilirating whirls and through steps we didn't think we could handle. But we make it. And it is beautiful. But sometimes it feels like the music is just turned down too low, or we seem to get interrupted too often. There's something in the way. Usually the world; either things we love above Him or people mocking our passion...

I'm living in an age
That laughs
When I'm dancing
With the one I love
But my mind holds the key

Well... didn't Paul say we see now as through a glass darkly, but then we will see clearly? That's how I feel then about this romance, this dance that is Christianity. Life, this human body, keeps me from dancing with Him the way I want to, from experiencing Him the way I want to.

Sometimes I cry thinking about it. But it is a bittersweet ache. This body is a cage that keeps me from dancing with the One I love, the One who loves me... We never get to do the whole dance here. Just a few steps, now and then. Just enough to make me long for more. But one day, one day the dance will be danced in all its splendour.

For now, I see the dance in my mind's eye. And I am so happy when I'm dancing with Him. But I weep when the dance is cut short. My body is a cage, set my spirit free, set my spirit free...