Sixth week of Eastertide with Tintoretto, Austin's Blue Lapis Light and a Shaker hymn

Meditating this week on the beautiful feet of our risen, ascended, reigning Christ.

The Christ who sits at the right hand of the Father, 

the whole earth a footstool for his (resurrected) human feet.

The Ascension, detail Tintoretto, 1579-81

Acts 1:1-11

(ESV)

The Promise of the Holy Spirit

1 In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, 2 until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. 3 He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. 4 And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

The Ascension

6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” 9 And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10 And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, 11 and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

Dance: Austin's Blue Lapis Light, Heaven ~ Earth ~ One, September 2012 at the Long Center. (This video shows rehearsal, go here to see video of the actual performance.)

Hymn: Lord of the Dance written by English songwriter Sydney Carter, to the Shaker tune "Simple Gifts" (listen to the Choristers of Wells Cathedral Choir)

I danced in the morning when the world was begun,

And I danced in the moon and the stars and the sun,

And I came down from heaven and I danced on the earth;

At Bethlehem I had my birth.

(Refrain)

Dance then wherever you may be;

I am the Lord of the dance, said he,

And I'll lead you all, wherever you may be,

And I'll lead you all in the dance, said he.

I danced for the scribe and the pharisee,

But they wouldn't dance, and they wouldn't follow me;

I danced for the fishermen, for James and John;

They came with me and the dance went on.

(Refrain)

I danced on the Sabbath and I cured the lame;

The holy people said it was a shame.

they whipped and they stripped and they hung me high,

And left me there on a cross to die.

(Refrain)

I danced on a Friday when the sky turned black;

It's hard to dance with the devil on your back.

They buried my body and they thought I'd gone;

But I am the dance and I still go on.

(Refrain)

They cut me down and I leap up high;

I am the life that'll never, never die;

I'll live in you if you'll live in me:

I am the Lord of the Dance, said he.

(Refrain)

Dance, then wherever you may be;

I am the Lord of the dance, said he,

And I'll lead you all, wherever you may be,

And I'll lead you all in the dance, said he.

(found via The Rising: Living the Mysteries of Lent, Easter, and Pentecost by Wendy M. Wright)