Journey of the Heart / Jennifer Burger

Like tap dancing, get in joyful rhythm with God in your life of faith

Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve wanted to learn how to tap dance. And now—at the age of 60—I’m taking my very first tap class! I am four weeks into an eight-week class schedule, and it has been quite a journey for me: what I thought was going to be fun and easy started out frustrating and hard.

One hour a week is not nearly enough time for this “older” mind and body to grasp and execute all the new steps we learn each week, but I’ve been determined to give this my best effort.

So I’ve put in the extra time to learn through watching videos and to practice, practice, practice! This has helped me tremendously as I come to class with more confidence in my knowledge and ability to make music with my feet.

Slowly, I’m making progress. And although I may still feel like a klutz on the dance floor at times, there have been more moments where I’m able to keep up and be in rhythm with the music and others in my class. It is an amazing feeling and one that brings me great joy!

I’ve been pondering my tap shoes and what I have learned to accomplish with them so far. They are the instruments through which making this kind of music is only possible.

I think of “faith” in the same way. I’m not talking about religion, but a relationship and how it shapes my life and what I am able to accomplish with it. Faith is the instrument through which God is revealed and made known to me. It is an invitation. It is the “free human act that enables us to know him and love him” (U.S. Catholic Catechism for Adults, chapter 4, part 1, page 66).

I want to be in rhythm with God in my life—to be in a right relationship with him and to know Christ more intimately. Without this faith that is alive and growing in me, I am simply making noise when what I truly desire is to make beautiful notes of his love in the world.

So, I pray the words of the Apostles, “Increase [my] faith”

(Lk 17:5), not to be given more faith, as this is a gift freely given by God, but rather to express my desire to know more clearly how to love, serve and live for him more intentionally and authentically. I tend to pray this more often during those times when I find myself stumbling along—feeling like a klutz—and when I seem to be making noise that is not in harmony with the music of God’s love.

It is precisely these times when I feel most determined to make that extra effort to not just “put on faith” as an accessory, but to respond to it—to exercise and engage my mind and heart so that I may grow in relationship, as well as grow in confidence and ability to continue to make good progress for our Lord and Savior and in the kingdom of God.

My tap shoes and this tap journey may not lead me to a stage on Broadway, but I pray my journey of faith (my walk with Christ) will lead me to the stage in heaven, where my feet—and my heart and soul—will be one with the Father, making music for all eternity. This would be my ultimate joy!

May this be the prayer of all the faithful: Increase our faith, O Lord!
 

(Jennifer Burger is program manager at Our Lady of Fatima Retreat House in Indianapolis and a member of St. Simon the Apostle Parish in Indianapolis. She is also a spiritual director.) †