As video game designer Matt Harding approached mid-life, he became captivated by the idea of dancing at famous spots around the world.
Here’s the rub: Matt Harding is not a great dancer.
In fact, he describes his movements as “uncoordinated, unselfconscious silliness.”
He has nonetheless become one of the world’s most celebrated dance performers.
That’s almost certainly because Matt has a subversive mission.
He doesn’t just film himself doing jigs in interesting places. He recruits and trains ordinary people of every nation to join him. His most ambitious effort, which was released in July 2012, involves hundreds of strangers in 55 countries and 11 US states.
Harding is inviting the tens of millions who watch his videos on YouTube to imagine a world in which people of every background, ethnicity, and political persuasion might laugh, dance, and look silly together, if only for a few minutes.
Some of the locales almost take your breath away: North Korea, Serbia, Pakistan, the Gaza Strip, Lebanon, Iraq, Rwanda, Russia, Afghanistan, and Syria (where the faces of the female dancers had to be blurred for their own protection).
First you might find yourself thinking: How in the world did a video game designer from Seattle gain entry to all these places?
Then you might wonder: Isn’t this one of those countries on the State Department’s don’t-visit list? Isn’t this where the genocide happened, or the bomb just killed those people in the market, or the dictator is cracking down? Aren’t we supposed to dismiss these people out of hand?
This fall, when trust is in short supply and suspicion is rife, Matt Harding’s uplifting video is a joyful place to turn.
There is no preaching here. Matt’s videos do not make theological statements.
Instead, he is demonstrating the reality of “common grace” – the very thing Jesus was talking about when he said that his Father in heaven “causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and unrighteous” (Matthew 5:45). That same Father bestows the gifts of laughter and simple joy on any who are willing to receive them.
So savor the music.
Enjoy the crazy settings.
And pray that God’s vision for a world in which people can somehow see with new eyes and come alongside each other might actually be fulfilled.
Comments