limbo stick

Unlike many dance forms that merely require a body and a good beat, dancing the limbo demands the use of a physical prop: a stick. The limbo can’t be danced without it. Fortunately, limbo sticks are easy to come by, and may vary in shape and size from a janitor’s broom to a piece of driftwood on the beach. The quality of the dance is directly related to the height of the stick; and the further a dancer advances in the dance, the closer to the ground the stick brings him.

It is dangerous to compare the cross of Christ to a limbo stick, but I think there are interesting similarities worth noting. The danger lies in the fact that the two are different in far more ways than they are alike. Whereas limbo sticks are multitudinous and easily disposable, the cross is unique and immeasurably valuable. Whereas limbo sticks move at the whim of their holders, the cross is firmly fixed in the sovereign will of God.

But one similarity between the two worth mentioning is the centrality of the wood, of the pole, of the leveling object to the performance of the dance. Where each is concerned, the dance is impossible without it. Thus, each exercises influence over every step of the dance.

A second similarity relates to the effect of each object on the dancer. As with the limbo stick, the further a grace dancer advances in the dance of the kingdom, the lower to the ground the cross will bring him. And interestingly, any dancer in either dance who does not find himself steadily progressing closer and closer to the ground must ask himself whether or not he is really participating in the dance at all.

And so, the lessons of lowliness are always taught in the shadow of the cross, the leveling limbo stick that consistently directs us downward as we dance.


from Caedmon’s Call, The Danse

Jesus dansed into the world, singing his heavenly song
He taught the danse to those who would listen and learn as he moved along
But the steps of His danse, they led to a cross
where He died while the haters mocked on
But He dansed through death’s arms and over hell’s gate
And in three days dansed forth from His tomb.

We must danse, danse, danse
Danse in God’s honor
We must yield our steps unto the King
We must danse, danse, danse
Danse in God’s honor
Let His praises ring throughout the earth!