no sq

I generally assume people don’t know what I’m referring to when I mention I’m a “West Coast Swing” dancer.

“Oh, that’s the one with the rock-step, right?”

Hmm… not precisely. West Coast is a descendant of Hollywood (smooth)-style Lindy Hop. If you know what Lindy looks like, just make the dance more linear instead of circular, smooth instead of bouncy, and then dance to the melody instead of just to the rhythm. That’s West Coast.

That description doesn’t help much if you don’t know what Lindy dancing looks like, though. But, courtesy of Google Video, you can watch a West Coast performance by two of the top West Coast dancers in the country (and possibly the world): Jordan Frisbee and Tatiana Mollman.

West Coast Swing - Jordan and Tatiana Showcase

(and for the record: no, I don’t dance anywhere close to this level)

Sometimes I really have issues with God over all the suffering in this world. He’s supposed to be Good, right?

And other times sorrow itself is too overwhelming.

In those moments I falter. All the anger that I can put into swear words, or the rage I can put into a scream,… or bitterness into tears or vehemence into strikes or passion into dance or desperation into an embrace… it’s not enough. It is not enough.

Maybe you have a better way. But all of it feels like it falls short for me, those times.

And here, at the end of myself, I find comfort in a God who cries with me.

It’s odd - instead of wanting a God who can magically “fix things” and make all the suffering go away, I need a God who can mourn with me… or for me. For my God can mourn with tears and sorrow that resonate deeper than my soul, that resonate within all of his authored creation.

And there (feeling the expression that I myself cannot put forth), at the last, is comfort.

try {
   flowers();
   candy();
   dancing();
}
catch (Woman w) {

}

How to catch an exceptional woman.