OR THE HOLY, HOLY?
At one time or another in a young person’s life they learn the Hokey Pokey dance, usually in grade school. It helped them learn the difference between their right extremities and their left.
The origins of the Hokey Pokey are sketchy at best, but some say it goes back to Canterbury, England in 1857, where two sisters on a trip to Bridgewater, New Hampshire, taught the locals a song called “Right Elbow In” with the actions and phrases we now call the Hokey Pokey.
The Hokey Pokey
You put your right foot in
You put your right foot out
You put your right foot in
And you shake it all about
You do the hokey pokey
And you turn yourself around
That’s what it’s all about
Left foot
You put your left foot in
You put your left foot out
You put your left foot in
And you shake it all about
You do the hokey pokey
And you turn yourself around
That’s what it’s all about
And so on and so on until all the body parts are included in the dance.
You have to be wondering by now why I have brought up the Hokey Pokey dance in my blog. Well, it reminds me of today’s modern Christians. They jump from church to church, unsatisfied or unfulfilled with what they see and hear, thinking they don’t know how to find the exact fit, but will know it when they find it. They want to find a feel-good church, one that won’t have someone stand up in the pulpit and call them sinners, and telling them they’re condemned to hell unless they repent. Many think they can earn their way to heaven by doing good deeds. They may donate to the firemen, policemen, or soup kitchen in the area, thinking this is their civic or Christian duty. You can say they put one hand in, take it out shake it off. Or maybe they donate to a rescue mission, or homeless shelter, putting one foot in then taking it out and shaking it off.
Christianity is not supposed to be about us. It is supposed to be loving one another and doing service to further the kingdom of Jesus Christ. The only part of the Hokey Pokey dance that should be relevant to a Christian is put your whole body in, but don’t take it out, or shake it off.
So many times Christians do things with ulterior motives, even if it’s unintentional. They will donate to the Red Cross, or the cancer society, or even their benevolent mission in their church, while in the back of their mind their thinking what a wonderful thing they’re doing, and how could the world get along without them?
We all need to try harder to do the Holy, Holy dance instead of the Hokey Pokey dance. We need to be like the widow who gave her last mite in faith, not questioning whether God would take care of her, in the future. We all can do better in our daily walk with Christ, to be more like him. John the Baptist said; “he (Jesus) must increase and I must decrease.” And that should be our daily prayer in order to be all that he would have us be.
As parents it is our job to set an example for our children in our daily walk with Christ. They should see us read our Bibles, pray for other people, and be a volunteer whenever the church doors are open. As John the Baptist said: more of him and less of me.
We as writers also need to begin our writing sessions or meditative processes with a word of prayer, that whatever we do or write will be to the glory of God. It doesn’t have to be full of Scripture and the hallelujah chorus to be written for the glory of God, just good wholesome life fulfilling literature.
What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? I Corinthians 6:19
And the LORD came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak; for thy servant heareth. I Samuel 3:10
If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour. John 12:26
Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
Matthew 25:35-40