Closer to heaven

I had two unpleasant shocks on Thursday.

The first was the ferocious attack by a small but deeply convinced minority upon the “Tradition & Sanity” post to which I contributed the central part. The article is called “Why Catholics Should Learn to Dance,” and it should be regarded as the beginning, not the definitive result, of a conversation about the role of social dancing among Catholics.

The second was a vicious bite from a small dog as I hurried to a bus stop, bound for swing dance class. If I recall correctly, I had slowed down a trifle to say “What a sweet little doggie” before she lunged for my stockinged leg.

When I was pursuing a doctorate in Theology, I pondered grimly that mine was the one science in which everyone considered himself an expert. Whereas a man might defer to a mechanic in the treatment of his car engine, even despite his grave misgivings about the bill, he would be much less likely to defer to a theologian on matters of faith. That there exists a hierarchy of Church pronouncements is a secret to him, and he is willing to argue until he is blue in the face that X is wrong, wrong for all time, because Father Y said this in 1847, Saint Z said something quite similar in 1786, and Benedict XV signed that in 1916.

I was given reason to ponder this again on Thursday as I dabbed at my bitten calf with an antiseptic wipe.

But there are silver linings in both these clouds. Those who wish to discourage Catholics from dancing have provided a number of authorities and arguments to be addressed. They also implied that Dr Kwasniewski, Mr Julian Kwasniewski, and I should engage them with appropriate intellectual rigour.

Well, challenge accepted although I make no claim to be anywhere near Dr Kwasniewski in terms of scholarship. (I have lost count of the number of his books; I have reviewed at least three for online Catholic publications.) I am going to have to do a lot of reading.

The silver in the dog bite was a ready answer to one of the few sincere questions in the Dancing Debate:

Reader: How does dancing contribute to me serving God and getting closer to heaven? I see a lot about how itโ€™s not bad but honestly not much about how it gets me closer to heaven. 

Dog bite: It assists in the dissipation of wrath and wish for revenge.

I was very angry and resentful after the dog bit me. For one thing, her owner kept repeating “She’s only a puppy” instead of apologizing. I was also angry that the waiting time for the National Health Service hotline was 90 minutes. That the police hotline itself expected me to wait 15 minutes did not allay my aggravation. (I was very impressed, however, that although the bitch broke my skin, she did not rip my tights.)

When I arrived, late, at swing dance class, I had to force myself to pay attention to the instructors. My grievances were strong, however, and kept popping to the surface. However, the cheerful music and steps of what is an exuberantly joyful dance soon worked their magic and stole my anger away. When, to my surprise, we were taught an advanced and comical variation, I even laughed.

Rock-step, tri-ple step, steeehp, step-step, shoogle, shoogle.

Hilarious! And even better, it brought me closer to heaven.

There were three young Catholics at this dance, all of whom I know and like, and for one of whom I was the official chaperone. I was the self-appointed unofficial chaperone for the other two, as secular swing dance classes have evils completely unrelated to the actual dance. During the evening, I kept an eye on them all, rescuing one from an awkward situation, joking with another, and beaming with undeserved pride whenever the third was asked to dance. Over the past 19 months I have lost most concern about whether anyone asks me to dance; my sole desire is that my guests or charges (official and unofficial) enjoy themselves and are kind to each other. And this has brought me closer to heaven.

Social dancing brings others closer to heaven in different ways. There are so many ways to be kind to others, which serves God, at a dance, it is almost as if dances were invented to exercise kindness. The guest who accepts promptly or buys a ticket at once to honour his host or hostess is serving God. The young man who asks the neglected young lady (or old lady) to dance is serving God. The young lady who reassures her partner about his dancing skills is serving God. The shy people who nevertheless join in the group dance to increase the joy of others are serving God.

Dancing expresses emotion through movement. Two of the dances I promote–swing dance and ceilidh dancing–express joy. Swing dance, which creates joy in the dancer, is a celebration of joy itself, shared by the dancing couple and anyone watching. Ceilidh dancing, which creates both joy and a sense of community, is also the expression of joy in a community and in a tradition. At the end of every ceilidh I attend, I’m so happy to be living in Scotland, so proud of my (multi-ethnic, BTW) Edinburgh community and my Scots ancestry, and so full of love for my Scots-Canadian mum and grandma that I have to fight back tears as everyone around me sings “Auld Lang Syne.”

I’m closer to heaven, where I hope and pray I will meet my own again.

Another very good inquiry from the same honest questioner: “How is dancing with members of the opposite sex better than other forms of recreation?”

I shall attempt to answer that one next, assisted by the waltz and the wonderful, far from universal, Christian concept of friendship between men and women.

UPDATE: Catholic readers in the UK may be interested to know that tickets are still available for the Edinburgh Michaelmas Dance. This will take place on Saturday, September 28, 2024 from 7:30 PM to 11:00 PM. For tickets, please contact me at info@tradcathsocialdancing.co.uk.

To buy tickets for the Eastertide Dance 2025, please contact me at info@tradcathsocialdancing.co.uk.