This is a dispatch from the Junior apprentice. And the following is a reply:

Beloved Junior Apprentice,

My heart is filled with overwhelming gladness when I hear of your desire to participate in the dance of life through a recovery of the rhythm of the Master. It must be an even deeper joy for our Master, who truly and deeply feels for you.

Have I told you, that the “rhythm” that we frequently speak about is actually his heartbeat? Our dancing to his rhythm goes deeper than a mere emulation of his actions – it’s about living in accordance with his heartbeat, in resonance with the depth of his being. I know this sounds rather abstract, but you have tasted it in concrete dimensions through our life together; so I know you understand.

This dance which we are doing is not groundless or directionless. You know how we have been taught that the Master dances over his creation. In fact, creation itself is a result of the artistic explosion emerging from the dance of life in which our Master engages. He created, and he continues to dance over creation.

At some point, we know that creation has lost some significant part of that rhythm. There is no part of creation that has not been, in one way or another, tainted by the loss of that rhythm. But the Master’s dance is a redemptive dance which brings a sort of progressive restoration to all creation. There will come a day when all creation will once again participate in that perfect dance of life, not just as an action, but as a manner of partaking in the Master’s being. This is a promise; remember, we may now be engaging in certain minute battles, but the war is over and the victory has been won. So ours is a call to participate in the victory by engaging in the minor battles rather than fighting a war which we’re trying to win.

Hence, our participation in the dance of life is not a pointless participation. It is a participation through which we partake of the Master’s essence, and in the process, dancing together with him to redeem all of creation back into his fold. Dancing is more than just something we do as people devoted to the Master; it is characteristic of life, and life is an art.

When the Master’s Kingdom is established in all its fullness, then all of life will form an intricate pattern as all of creation participates in this perfect dance of life. Until then, we have to keep dancing towards that vision of the Master’s Kingdom. We fall once in a while when we unknowingly dance in clumsy steps. But we are, after all, mere apprentices. Besides, this is why the Master has put you and me together – so that when either of us falls, we have each other.

Your life, my dear junior apprentice, is an art. Both yours and mine.

Yours most affectionally,
Senior Apprentice