Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

When Jephthah returned to his home in Mizpah, who should come out to meet him but his daughter, dancing to the sound of timbrels! She was an only child. Except for her he had neither son nor daughter.

• Judges 11:34

When the men were returning home after David had killed the Philistine, the women came out from all the towns of Israel to meet King Saul with singing and dancing, with joyful songs and with timbrels and lyres.

• 1 Samuel 18:6

Wearing a linen ephod, David was dancing before the Lord with all his might,

• 2 Samuel 6:14

Let them praise his name with dancing and make music to him with timbrel and harp.

• Psalm 149:3

The New Boilerplate

My wife filled a small book with “Angel” on the cover.  It was hidden with a box of crafting things.  On 18 July 2025, I thought I had posted the last of these.  But this little angel book held a prayer, followed by 71 quotes.  So, the “with a little help” series is back in business for a while.  And it will be fun for me.  She did not attribute any of the quotes.  The first quote was from James A. Garfield, the 20^th president of the USA.  The next one was disputed, with some thinking it originated with Teddy Roosevelt and others saying Fred Astaire.  After the prayer, these might be on the lighter side.

Her quote

“I won’t be old till my feet hurt, and they only hurt when I don’t let ’em dance enough, so I’ll keep right on dancing.”

• Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, American Dancer

The Discussion

Bill “Bojangles” Robinson (1878-1949) was in fifteen movies, many with Shirley Temple.  He had dropped out of school when seven years old to become a dancer.  The nickname was due to his ebullience.  When you can dance and you love to dance, keep on dancing.

I have written before about how my wife loved to dance.  She quit dancing when she found me to be a horrible dance partner.

One of her criticisms was that I danced with three left feet.  Two left feet were for always being out of step.  The third left foot was to constantly step on her feet.  She also asked if I was purposefully trying to dance that badly.  Was I trying to dance or was she a victim of a mugging?

I knew that I could never be in step.  I could not stay in step while marching in the army.  Gladly, I did not have to do much of that.

I wonder if my slight atrial fibrillation has something to do with that.  The doctor won’t tell me what it is.  I take no medication for it.  And over the past 15-20 years, it has not gotten worse, but if my feet dance or march to the beat of a heart that cannot stay in rhythm, maybe…

But if my wife was with David, she would be whirling and twirling along with him.

I think we will do a lot of dancing in Heaven.  And I will be cured of my inability to keep in step.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory