The Technicolor Madonna...

The Christmas Dance part 2... caution: nudity

christmas eve in a third-rate paradise ~

“why can’t people just get along?” she grumbled.

she had just introduced her two best friends to each other and it had not gone as planned...in fact it was turning out to be a complete disaster.

who could have guessed?

it was a complete surprise to her!

one guy, one girl, as affable and good-natured as any friends could be,

but here they were, practically at each other’s throats.

jackie and terry, her two favorite people, had joined her in sunny Florida for the Christmas holidays.

they were even staying at a place called paradise.

what could possibly go wrong?

🎄

well... lots of things...

to begin with, in a daring move, they had rented a condo next to Terry’s place at a nudist resort,which made for rather awkward introductions all around.

they had barely, if you will excuse the pun, gotten through the introductions and unpacked their suitcases (which in itself was ironic because they would not be needing any of the clothes they had so carefully packed) when the phone rang...

it appeared that Terry’s 75 year-old mother would be joining them for Christmas Eve

🎄

oh my!

ohh no! this was not a good thing

oh not good at all!

that meant Christmas dinner

and Christmas Eve church service...

ruinous!

the very things they had come all this way to escape

and now they were being yanked right back into the fray!

🎄

it had been their tradition for several years to dodge all the holiday madness

and create a holiday of their own choosing!

spontaneity and fun ruled their reunions.

they might turn up on a beach one year or atop a mountain the next.

they disdained the status quo with all its traditions and trappings.

they liked to celebrate in artful anti-holiday style!

🎄

and so

as you might imagine

they did their best to squirm out of the arrangements

but neither terry nor his mother would hear of it.

holiday preparations were well underway and they were expected to join in.

dinner at 7 sharp and then church...

they struggled through dinner,

a homely repast of Midwestern fare

ham and green beans, cornbread casserole yams drowning in marshmallows…

there went their plans for margaritas and crab legs dancing in butter...

a favorite anti-holiday meal

🎄

and church!

they had to go to church!

horrors!

how long had it been?

🎄

now our two girls were fairly certain that they had spent a past life together

as nuns in medieval France, having been consigned there due to youthful indiscretions.

as one might imagine, the lifestyle was not to their liking

and so...

they made their escape in the dead of night by raPpelling down the high stone walls

of their convent by means of bed sheets knotted together.

when they met up again in this life they were still on the run from Ecclesiastical Authority...

🎄

what to do?!

spoil a sweet old lady’s Christmas?

well, they couldn’t exactly bring themselves to do that...

but...but...but?!

church?!

for crying out loud!!

there seemed to be no way out of this one.

🎄

tempers were rising as they grudgingly slipped into the pews.

🎄

after the ‘dearly beloveds’ and the passing of the offering plate,

the pastor introduced his entire extended family one by one...

🎄

they groaned inwardly…

🎄

he then launched into his sermon with a story...

this tale had to do with an unusual family tradition.

when he and his wife were engaged many years before

he was invited to spend Christmas with his prospective in-laws.

he was a young ministerial candidate nervously hoping to make a good impression

on a family that boasted several generations of pastors.

it was a daunting task and he was careful to display his best manners and reserved decorum.

as the young man made nervous small talk with his relatives-to-be

there suddenly erupted a blast of ear-shatteringrock music!

in the very next moment, all the family burst into a frenzied dance…every one of them,

from stately old aunties, grandkids, even his future father and mother-in-law!

everyone, that is, but him.

he watched in stunned disbelief as the wild scene unfolded.

what on earth had taken hold of these people!?

they all gyrated madly to the music while he stood paralyzed in astonishment!

this went on for the longest time...

and then...

just as suddenly as the music began, it ended and they all stopped dancing at once,

at which point they simply resumed their conversations as if nothing at all had just happened.

his future father-in-law let him squirm for a few minutes before he laughed and took him aside to explain their strange custom.

🎄

This, he said, was the Christmas Dance.

no one quite remembered how or why it got started but it went something like this...

once all the family was finally gathered together for the holiday, one of the kids would smuggle a cassette player into their midst.

when no one was watching, he would suddenly punch the button and blast the music!

everyone present was expected to drop whatever they were doing and dance the Christmas Dance until the music stopped.

... and dance they did! with such joyous abandon!

the young man entertained serious doubts about marrying into the family that night,

but on further reflection, apart from that incident, they seemed regular enough,

and so he came to also take part in the Christmas Dance.

🎄

he went on to tell the story of last year’s Christmas Dance

some 15 years later.

his brother-in-law had been battling cancer that year.

at Christmas time he had been hospitalized once again

his prognosis wasn’t good.

they all knew this would be their last Christmas together.

the family talked among themselves and they all decided to scrap their usual holiday plans.

instead they would carry Christmas to him in the hospital ward.

the dying man looked up in surprise as all his family crowded into his hospital room

bearing presents and a Christmas feast.

one of the kids snuck a boom box into the room

and soon after, when all were gathered together

the Magic moment arrived.

🎄

at just the right moment

the button was pressed and music filled the room to Bursting!

wild music blaring,

the Christmas Dance began again in earnest, with everyone joining in.

the weakened man in the hospital bed even lifted his arms and waved happily in celebration.

the nurses who at first rushed in in alarm relaxed and gathered to watch the performance

And so...

the tradition was upheld once more!

🎄

the story had so moved them all…

when they left the church that night they were all strangely altered-

they were suffused in a kind of irrepressible joy.

gone were the ill feelings that had plagued them that weekend.

the barriers had melted and they saw past their differences.

they headed home and made hot chocolate for all and put momma to bed for the night.

🎄

not wanting the evening to end they walked back to the condo.

they kicked off their shoes and turned on some music.

before long they started to dance

their own Christmas Dance…

it seemed the only right thing to do.

they found themselves caught up in a strange and wonderful kind of joy

the joy intensified

and soon

they were dancing wildly all around the apartment

jumping on beds and whooping it up like little kids.

they found scarves and capes and Christmas bangles

and dressed each other up and did new dances with every costume change.

they laughed and danced till tears streamed down their faces and their cheeks glowed with delight.

🎄

as the moon rose

and the heavens stirred

they soon found the condo much too confining

so they took their dance

outside

under the stars.

the night sky pulsed with light

and the palms rustled in the warm breeze

the Heavens bent low as if to join in...

🎄

without meaning to,

they soon found themselves at the nightclub which was usually packed with baudy revelers.

on this night however it was virtually empty but for a handful of discouraged-looking patrons at the bar who had not gone away for the holiday.

the big dance floor was all theirs.

the bartender poured drinks

and the DJ caught the vibe

and soon they began to sway to the techno dance beat.

the ethereal reverberations transported them deeper and deeper into their trance dance

they had somehow embodied Joy…

they understood

that their dance

had become Prayer

they danced all night in a kind of overflowing joy

unable to stop.

it was pure and potent magic

🎄

One stood out…

she wore a brilliantly colored sari

and a huge rainbow veil that covered her

from head to be-jeweled toe

a Technicolor Madonna…

she whirled dervish-like in worship of

the Mysterious One

who had graced them with joy and opening.

they danced till dawn

like shamans re-shaping the world

🎄

The next day the people from the bar told the curious story of the

Technicolor Madonna…

they claimed that they had been visited by an angel or such…

they talked about that night and how it had changed their lives

for a

long time afterward

🎄

she still turns up now and then in unexpected times and places

the Christmas Dance never ends…

🎄~~~~~~~~~🎄~~~~~~~~~🎄

As always, thanks for reading 💖 Feel free to like, subscribe, share, and restack.

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The Christmas Dance part 2... caution: nudity