No Se El Tango Senorita

Dance, Dance, Dance all night long....

- Steve Miller Band

We'd been anticipating our vacation with friends to Buenos Aires, Argentina for the better part of six months.  With two little girls in diapers we needed some husband/wife time away from our parental responsibilities.  Let's call it a romantic re-fuel!

With both modern luxuries and old world charm, BA is a city with it's own rhythm.   Upon our arrival early last week it took us a few days to "find our groove", but on our fourth night we found one of many Milongas, locals-only night spots where lovers of The Tango come together to literally dance the night away.   This was my shot!

Though I remembered a surprising amount of Spanish when it came to ordering food (surprise!) I had totally forgotten our dance lesson and I struggled to recall even a few steps in an attempt to fake The Tango.  Incidentally, my having done so would have thrilled my wife, an accomplished dancer, beyond compare.  Consequently, though very much in love, Megan and I are back from an embarrassingly-dance-free vacation.

A less-than-savory history, the Argenitine Tango originated in late 19th century lower-class Buenos Aires bordellos hence the passionate nature of the dance.   It's more refined these days but the passion remains and reads like a book on the faces of those we watched - even with their eyes closed!

The tango is a dance that depends on the male leading the woman.  She waits patiently for him to lead her and he guides her along stopping at times to allow her the opportunity for some fancy footwork.   I was found wanting.
 

I was "outside the dance" and there was nothing I could do to break in. As we watched the romance literally swirl around the room I was an impotent bystander ignorant of the choreography of the moment.  I didn't know the language.  I didn't have the vocabulary to express myself within the dance much less lead Megan with the kind of tender strength the dance demands from the man.

In Kings Cross, Tim Keller writes that a life in the Spirit of God is a dance that we are drawn into.   Most perfectly exemplified by the way The Father (God), The Son (Jesus), and The Spirit relate to one another as The Trinity -- none taking anything from the other only giving and receiving freely in a flowing, blessed interchange of mutual love.

There is nothing we can do to work our way into relationship with any of the three.   Like The Tango the church (the feminine) is lead by the trinity (the masculine) in a dance that brings forth The Creator's desired results.  Only to the degree that we find ourselves enveloped and overwhelmed by Jesus, the suffering servant and the Son with whom God is well pleased, does our life move from mortal flesh to eternal spirit.   He has taken the lead but will we follow?

The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul.  He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.  - Psalm 23:1-3

See if there is any offensive way in me,
   and lead me in the way everlasting. - Psalm 139:24

The verses above strongly indicate that King David, a shepherd in his youth, understood what Isaiah would later write....

We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way.....

David indeed knew that we are all in dire need of a good shepherd to lead us from temptation and to deliver us from evil (Matt 6:13) both within us and around us.  The second part of Isaiah's prophetic verse reveals what was to be God's answer to David's constant plea for guidance.

......and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. - Isaiah 53:6

Ironically, Jesus, our perfect shepherd, was also the Lamb of God who took upon Himself the sin of the world to lead us into the dance of grace and peace with God for which we were created.   Like The Tango it is a passionate dance that expresses beauty to all who behold it, unlike The Tango we do not decide to dance it and there are no steps to learn as a pre-requisite.  We are simply swept into it by our God of grace who loves us enough to both choose us and lead us in His dance.

Let's dance,
matt


The Frank Sinatra of Argentine Tango: Carlos Gardel.....




This Week

* Tyler Men's Gathering - 7am Wednesday AM    The Obedience Option - Chapter 8 & 9   
   2 American Center, 5th Floor (Ritcheson Law Firm)

* The Magills w/ special guests The Scrips @ KE Cellars - 6pm Friday - Tyler, TX

   The Magills @ The Forge Bistro - 7pm-10pm Saturday night - Ben Wheeler, TX 

* The Magills - 3 Services Sunday Morning at Rock Hill Baptist Church - Brownsboro, TX

   Then in Concert - 6pm Sunday Night @ Rock Hill Baptist Church - Brownsboro, TX

 
NEXT WEEK - New Men's Lunch @ Dakota's in Tyler, TX - Mondays @ 12pm - Keller's Kings Cross is the first book!!!!  Make plans to be there and RSVP to mpmagill@gmail.com

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