St Paul's
Beaconsfield

Anglican Church near Fremantle, Western Australia

The Elm Dance

Our parish is a community that seeks God and the fullness of creation by finding ourselves in relation to others. Our giving to the common, to the other, our sharing of ourselves is our commitment to this endeavour.

Around the planet, as people gather to work together for the healing of our world, a simple, beautiful practice is spreading. To celebrate their commitment to life and solidarity with activists the world over, they join hands in a circle dance.

Set to the haunting strains of a Latvian song, the Elm Dance took form in Germany in the 1980s, and in the early 1990s moved eastward to the areas poisoned by the Chernobyl disaster. There, and especially in Novozybkov, the most contaminated of inhabited cities, the dance became an expression of the will to live.
A Dance of Inspiration and Solidarity

The Elm Dance from Gaia Foundation, the Latvian words translated into English:

What will you give to me mother dear, for eternal life
What will you give to me mother dear, for eternal life
The little golden apple tree blooms, and rings out like morning mist
The little golden apple tree blooms, and rings out like morning mist
What does it give to you mother dear, that your little son doesn't die
What does it give to you mother dear, that your little son doesn't die
There is no reply
Only the grove of oak trees trembles in the wind
The grove of oak trees trembles in the wind
Only the trees put on their autumn leaves
The trees put on their autumn leaves
There is no reply
All my humour dissolves, All jokes fall flat
All my humour dissolves, All jokes fall flat
There is no reply
Only our feet all the more surely trample our earth
Our feet all the more surely trample our earth
Therefore, friends, how I am feeling
let no-one know
Therefore, friends, how I am feeling
let no-one know

We at St Pauls join in a circle dance, to pray the prayers of our hearts but especially for peace.

This morning during the Elm Dance, I thought what a great metaphor for Christian community it was. Firstly the dance, the slow measured step where we dance together to the same tune, guided by those who know it better, helped by those who know the steps and the sequence, and supporting each other when feet stumble out of step, or wander in a different direction. Around us is God's beautiful sky and warming light, the fragrance of rosemary, the delighted joyful music of the birds mingling with loving music composed by His children. Wonderful too is the ever-widening circle as more and more join, effortlessly welcomed into the dance. Existing members are strong enough in loving support to let go and welcome in; new ones are brave enough to step forward and take the offered hands. For those on the outside looking in, there is delight in watching the pattern and wholeness of the dance. Our prayers seek to bless those from Novozybkov, that most contaminated of cities after Chernobyl and the spoken and unspoken prayers: the homeless down the street, the patient people of Zimbabwe and those with broken relationships around us; and the dance helps us bring the answers into being.

Rosemary

As we are swaying – Let's Give Peace a Dance