麻豆约拍

From the Reverend Richard Coles:

It used to be said that Christians disapproved of sex on the grounds that it might lead to dancing.聽

聽A joke, but like most jokes, it tells us something. In spite of God deciding to take on human form and be born as one of us, we have sometimes forgotten that the flesh, good enough for God, should be good enough for us too.聽

聽In spite of that, Christian bodily awkwardness is very commonly found, from medieval monks whipping themselves to subdue unruly flesh, to comedy vicars in sitcoms losing their trousers. It鈥檚 even more evident now, because most of us live in a world now where everyone is much more at ease with the body. We see more of it, for good or ill; we鈥檙e encouraged to take better care of it; generally speaking we鈥檙e on good terms. But I鈥檓 afraid I鈥檓 still at the comedy vicar end of the spectrum, as ungainly and awkward at fifty five as I was at fifteen, the scrawny kid in specs who was last to be picked for football.聽

聽But then I was picked for Strictly. Rehearsals started this week so I have spent it surrounded by dancers, super fit, super agile, feeling like a walrus that has wandered into west Side Story.

聽And then I suddenly stopped feeling like that, thanks to the encouragement and enthusiasm of competitors and professionals (Anton de Beke said I have a 鈥済ood line鈥�, thank you very much), and because actually I鈥檝e had enough of feeling like a wallflower, and it may not be pretty, and it may not be expert, and you may watch it, if you watch it at all, through your fingers; but I am going to throw myself into Strictly, cover myself with glitter, go orange,聽 and bust some moves, and maybe a hamstring; and think of the prodigal son, who returned in shame to his father鈥檚 house to be greeted not with judgment, but with dancing.聽