I love Austria. We go way back:
The Sound of Music…
A particular young adult worship gathering in Vienna following Sunday night Mass at the Cathedral…
A worship festival, bathed in prayer and hard work, in Marchegg….
A precious monk in a grey frock and a turquoise blue electric guitar….
The wedding of Franz and Margie…
Ice skating on a frozen lake…
Pentecost gatherings in Salzburg…
Michael…
But today, Fat Tuesday (aka: Shrove Tuesday, aka: Pancake Tuesday,) this day just before Ash Wednesday, I can’t help but recall one of my favorite Austrian moments.
Did I mention Austrians love to waltz? Did I mention I have two left feet?
Austrian Grande Balls are galas full of beauty, waltzing and celebration. They are also as much a part of Austrian winters, as snow — that is, up until, Ash Wednesday, when many observe a 40-day season of penance and reflection, and take on various spiritual disciplines. (The snow continues.)
A few years ago, in hopes of attending one of the last great Austrian Balls of the (pre-Ash Wednesday,) season, a friend from Vienna, coaxed me into an unplanned, private tutorial in the rhythm of 1-2-3.
We had gone for a walk in a lovely wooded area, close to where we were staying. On our trek, Barbara shared her passion for dance, not to mention her excitement of the galas to come. I on the other hand was bemoaning my waltzing inadequacies.
Then and there, my friend grabbed my mittened hands, and began to teach me to dance.
“1….2…-3, 1-2…-3, 1-2-3, 1-2-3.
As a winter moon reflected the snow we had just been walking in, and now, the snow we were dancing in, try to picture “snow angels” being made in the crunchy, white snow…but these were snow angel footprints!
Who needs the paper Fred Astaire footprint diagrams explaining which foot goes where, when you have the freshly made blueprint of “how to,” in Austrian snow, led by a dear friend who lovingly laughed when I stumbled and encouraged me to try again…and again….and again.
Though I wish I could be in Austria tonight with my friends enjoying one of the last great Balls of the season, tonight I am also happy I get to go to a Pancake Supper at my local church in Tennessee. Besides indulging in pancakes, I will give money towards the head shaving of two dear friends, who are raising money for our Church adoption fund. Then, tomorrow I will attend an Ash Wednesday service and begin a couple of Lenten disciplines for 40 days.
I will surely stumble a few times (as I did that night so long ago in the snow,) as I attempt to find the rhythm of these Lenten disciplines, and most importantly, a rhythm of deeper devotion to the One who went to the cross for me. Yet, by God’s grace, in these moments, I will also consider the splendor and radiance of the God who extends His hand to me, bidding me to dance, even though I have two left feet and a heart inclined towards sin. I will remember my Friend, who “shone like lightning” on the Mount of Transfiguration (Matthew 28:3,) who went to the cross, so I could join in the dance, not just one night in Austria, but, all the days of my life.