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THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK -1st December 2008.

John Sergeant’s decision to withdraw from the popular TV show ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ was seen by some as totally unnecessary. Despite that fact that his dancing skills left much to be desired, he was without doubt the viewer’s favourite and was well his way to winning the competition.

The judges, of course, would have liked to see him removed at the first hurdle and their comments on his dancing were at times lacking in generosity. In the end the publicity surrounding his likelihood of winning was in his words a ‘joke too far’ and he did what he thought was right despite the protestations of many who would have liked him to remain and even take the prize allroom dancing is, of course, an art all of its own.

The coordinated movements of both dancers, each knowing their own and their partners exact moves, leading to the impeccable co-ordination that John Sergeant recognised was not always seen when he was on the floor. That’s what makes it and even more so ice dancing so fascinating to watch.

Who will even forget the unrivalled Torvill and Dean’s Bolero at the 1984 Winter Olympics? with their clean sweep of maximum scores. Strictly Come dancing has, of course, a different intention, that of pairing an expert and an inexperienced novice.

As the weeks go by there’s intensive training and a whole lot of commitment as the novice celebrity tries to match up to their expert partner. Sometimes it works, often it certainly does not and that’s the secret of its success!

It’s the same with our relationship with God. He invites us to follow where He leads and seeks to be our partner in the dance of life, teaching us the right ways and moves. More often than not we fail; we cannot keep up to the high standards of purity love and holiness which is the essence of his being. Yet He
never give up on us, teaching us his ways of love, compassion in doing so deepening his relationship with us as we yield to his authority and awesome
power.

The message of this Advent season is of God coming into the world and inviting us to accept his greatest gift of all – his only Son, born in lowliness and great poverty that we might know that God is love. Are we seeking the perfect partner to lead us and guide us along the often treacherous paths of our lives? Are we willing to learn from the greatest teacher of all? Will we allow Jesus to gently lead us and to learn from him perhaps the greatest truth of this Christmas time?

To love God with all our hearts and minds and then to love our neighbour as ourselves, giving thanks for God’s willingness not to let us fall and to celebrate his perfect grace.

The Reverend David Jones.

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