Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Shalom in the City

Home
Progressive Christian
Day 2 of Subversive Joy: Even More Undignified Than This

Day 2 of Subversive Joy: Even More Undignified Than This

Last updated on: October 3, 2016 at 5:05 am by Osheta Moore

Day 2 of Subversive Joy: Even More Undignified Than This 2016-10-03T05:05:21-08:00 Osheta Moore

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

dc5d9620f835aed3046e97f90f827f4c

From Pinterest

This afternoon, I post my our dance party video to the Instagram and y’all…I struggled to re-watch it. When I looked at the video, I didn’t see my daughter and I having fun, I didn’t see a super cute night shirt (I mean, come on..”straight outta bed”…hilarious!), I didn’t see my (finally) clean kitchen…no I saw my curves. I saw the extra pounds around my middle section. And I felt shame. This is why it took me the WHOLE DAY to post the video. I hated my body, I hate how goofy I looked, I hated everything.

I almost wished I didn’t make the video. But then I remembered how this whole series started.

Some of y’all have seen the video I made about my heartbreak as a black mother. I was so humbled by your responses and encouragements to press on. I was laying bed one morning after that video went live and a friend tagged me on an Twitter hashtag called, #CarefreeBlkKids2 it’s a feed full of video and picture of kids just loving life, dancing in a second line, dancing to Beyonce, singing to the post man, anything and everything joyful about innocence and trust.

Because I used to dance my favorite videos were the ones of kids dancing and as I watched them, I was struck by how little they cared what people thought of them while they danced.

and I thought, “Wow, God…I want to be that carefree again.” and as I thought about that I thought about God as a loving father with an iPhone, wanting to snap pictures of us, wanting to capture our moments of joy, wanting to help us preserve our peace, wanting to give us a chance to stop and see that there is good in the world.

And I sense God say, “I want you to be carefree again.” So I spent the next few weeks asking God, “What does it mean to be carefree?” and slowly a phrase bubbled to the surface, “Subversive joy…practice subversive joy…”

Why a subversive joy?

Because subversive means to not just resist but to overcome a broken system. In our lives there’s a system that not of this world that seeks to keep us broken and oppressed— it’s despair. When we choose joy, when as ask God to give us moments of carefree and happy, we’re subverting despair with a new, fruitful way of being— joy.

Which brings me back to today, I chose to practice subversive joy by dancing even though I’m not a size 2, even though I really struggle with my body because despair at my weight wanted to keep me broken. Nah…not today.

I’m reminded of a story in 2 Samuel when the Art of the Covenant, the very place the spirit of the Lord was housed came into Jerusalem and when he saw it, King David danced. He danced and celebrated and was incredibly carefree., but his wife Michal despised him for it. She saw him dancing and because she thought it was inappropriate she shamed him, but instead of stopping, hanging his head and shame, and containing his excitement, he said,

” It was before the LORD, therefore I will celebrate before the LORD. Samuel 6:21

It’s all about God’s goodness and provision for King David. His joy came not from what others thought of him. I love that. I wish when I looked at my dancing for the first time, I remembered why dancing is a subversive act of joy for me in body that is bigger than it’s ever been— I’m dancing to celebrate the Lord, his faithfulness, and well..because it’s fun.

Next week, I’ll try to be a bit more brave and post the video sooner in the day. I promise.

Osheta

Previous Post

October 2, 2016

Day 1: Dance Party "I Will Choose Subversive Joy"

Next Post

October 4, 2016 Day 3 of Choosing Subversive Joy: Podcast Interview with Carrie Wilson

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Anabaptist As a Jesus-Girl As a Mommy As a Third Way Woman Blog Composting Fair-Trade Fashion Faith Family Fearless Fridays In the Church in the Community in the Home Justice Marriage Ministry Peacemaking podcast Race Shalom Session Slider The City The Suburbs Uncategorized Watching What's Happening In The World What I'm Into

Select a Month March 2018 October 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 January 2017 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 May 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

How many books are in the New Testament?

Select your answer to see how you score.

13 27 21 30