Reaction

It makes me cry every time. I've probably seen it half a dozen times, and it never fails to do something to my heart. Why is that? I'm sure it has something to do with the choice of song -- I grew up with a steady diet of the hills being alive with the sound of music. I'm sure it also has something to do with the fun choreography and the funky remix. My sister and I attempted many such stunts once upon a time (somewhere in our youth or childhood . . .).

But it's more than that. I think it has something to do with the onlookers in the video. I'm not sure if the passers-by were staged or if they were genuinely taken by surprise when 200 dancers suddenly took to the floor at the Antwerp, Belgium, train station last March. I like to think it's the latter. I like to watch their faces and think about how real they are. I like to think about how real it is to have something amazing happening right before our eyes, and how real it is to have a dozen different reactions to the same scenario.

Sometimes I'm the guy with the cell-phone, casting a glance and moving on. Sometimes I'm the business woman who has a schedule to keep, but looks back toward the excitement, wishing that somehow there was time to stay and enjoy. But sometimes I'm the lady whose mouth drops open and can't believe what she's witnessing. And sometimes I'm the college-age girl grabbing a friend, saying, "Hey, look at that!" And sometimes I'm the woman dancing and clapping on the sidelines, even though she wasn't in on the rehearsals.

I'm realizing that I want to be that woman. Every day. I want the beauty and music and joy around me to resonate so strongly in my heart that I just can't keep still. I want to grab fellow travelers and say, "Do you see what's going on here?" I want to clap and smile as I witness the song, and I want my jaw to drop when I see what God is doing in my life and in the lives of those around me. Because He's definitely working. And it's music to my ears.