Alternative words to "Lord of the Dance"

Shiva as Lord of the Dance (Nataraj) CC0

Above, is a picture of a statue of a Hindu god, Shiva. Shiva has many names. One of them is “Lord of the Dance.” The lesson spoken by this statue is: life is birth and then death, but do not be afraid, for it is all a dance. This message is heard also in the song “Lord of the Dance.” The original song was written in 1963 to describe Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection. Sydney Carter, the author of the original lyrics of "Lord of the Dance" said the words were partly inspired by a statue of the Hindu deity Shiva. The chorus to the song proved so compelling to Pagan songwriters that hundreds of alternative verses have been written to augment the Christian ones.

The Lord of the Dance

1
I danced in the morning when the world was begun,
And I danced in the moon and the stars and the sun,
And I dance through the heavens and I danced on the earth:
I dance through death around to birth.

CHORUS: Dance, then, wherever you may be,
I am the Lord of the dance, you see,
And I'll lead you all, wherever you may be,
Bound by love we join in the dance so free.

2

I sleep in the kernel and I dance in the rain,
I dance in the wind, and through the
waving grain,
And when you cut me down, I care nothing for the pain -
In Spring I'll be the Dance again!

CHORUS

3

I dance in the circle of community

In fire and wind and through the dancing tree

I dance in the waves of the bright summer sea

I am the Lord of the wave’s myst’ry

CHORUS

4
The Moon in her phases and the tides of the sea,
The movement of Earth, and the
seasons that will be
Are rhythm for the dancing and a
promise through the years -
The Dance goes on through joy and tears.

CHORUS

5
They cut me down, but I leap up high!
I am life that will never, never die.
I'll live in you and you'll live in me -
We are Love in the Dance, let's be!

by Hilda Marshall, Marty Hale-Evans, and Amy Beltaine, based on the tune by Sydney Carter

Try It

Here's a link to a downloadable MP3 that has the right number of verses and choruses (and no vocals) if you'd like to sing these lyrics with accompaniment! 

Hymns Without Words – Piano & Woodwind Arrangement

A gentle, five-verse instrumental version available for free download, ideal for congregational singing or meditation. play.hymnswithoutwords.com/i-danced-in-the-morning

Margaret Mead offers:

Prayer does not use up artificial energy,

doesn't burn up any fossil fuel, doesn't pollute.

Neither does song, neither does love, neither does the dance.

Agnes DeMille once said:

To dance is to be out of yourself. Larger, more beautiful, more powerful. This is power, it is glory on earth and it is yours for the taking.

Remember Shiva’s lesson: we are all a part of the dance of life. The creation, the destruction, but do not fear, it is all a dance.

May I have this dance with you?

Beloved, You are whole, holy, and worthy,

Rev. Amy

Sound file for "Optical Delusion" Sermon

link here

Quotes from "Optical Delusion" sermon

Renowned physicist Albert Einstein’s 1930 work, What I Believe:

He writes on on Nature and Religious Feeling --

"The human mind is not capable of grasping the Universe. We are like a little child entering a huge library. The walls are covered to the ceilings with books in many different tongues… But the child notes a definite plan in the arrangement of the books---a mysterious order which it does not comprehend, but only dimly suspects."

"The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery every day. Never lose a holy curiosity."

"What I see in Nature is a magnificent structure that we can comprehend only very imperfectly, and that must fill a thinking person with a feeling of "humility."

"The finest emotion of which we are capable is the mystic emotion. Herein lies the germ of all art and all true science. Anyone to whom this feeling is alien, who is no longer capable of wonderment and lives in a state of fear is a dead man. To know that what is impenetrable for us really exists and manifests itself as the highest wisdom and the most radiant beauty, whose gross forms alone are intelligible to our poor faculties - this knowledge, this feeling ... that is the core of the true religious sentiment. In this sense, and in this sense alone, I rank myself among profoundly religious men."

He writes On Widening Circles of Compassion ---

"A human being is part of a whole, called by us the "Universe," a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separated from the rest--a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circles of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty."