A One-Legged Dancer

Today I saw a man with one leg, no shoes, and no shame. What’s more, this man I saw today danced, jumped with joy, bounced up and down undaunted by his supposed limitation. I can’t imagine the amazing reservoir of spiritual strength and physical balance it must take to move like that. He was part of a music group from a school supported by Lutheran World Relief. All the band members of this group called Benso, meaning “house of understanding,” possess various levels of physical disabilities and receive quilts and health kits through one of LWR's partner in Mali, National Solidarity Fund (FSN).

I wonder if these West Africans might view Westerners as peculiar or unthankful or even handicapped. Nearly all of us have shoes, most of us have two legs, and yet we’re straitjacketed by hyper-rationality, or over-seriousness or stress or something. The “house of understanding” U.S. Christians need to build should include a livelier dance-floor.