Keep Dancing

Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Matthew 5:12)

This painting is the first in a series called “Liturgical Art Forms.” I am using forms developed in the Church as aids in worship, celebration, service, prayer, instruction, etc., such as flannel-graphs, banners, chalk-talks, vestments, and in this case, reward-for-service ribbons sometimes used in children’s Sunday School or summer vacation camp.

In the upper register, one sees a background text from the fifth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew with the reminder “your reward lies in heaven” magnified. This space is anchored by two feet in dance shoes and the exhortation “keep dancing.” In the lower register, actual ribbons that my wife and I won dancing during a 20-year stint at Arthur Murray’s are hung. These ribbons were repurposed with help from my own children, who labeled them with various types of service such as prayer, feeding the poor, caring for the needy, peacekeeping, etc.

So the message here, though presented in a rather tongue-in-cheek way, is a hopeful one parallel to the message in the Gospel of Matthew. I just personalized the message, restating it in terms of my life experience, my gifting, my family, and my community.