PURSUIT: A Novel – 14: Rebirth

Kansas University – Easter Sunday 1986

In the front row of the university church, Christina watched Eva and her dance team dressed in white choreograph the love of Jesus—His crucifixion and death for the sins of the world. The dancers dramatically portrayed the story with white, red, and purple satin streamers. A band performed with amps of staggering sound, an opposing contrast to gospel music that offered thoughtful reflection when Christina had danced at home. The musicians were on fire for Jesus—their lyrics called out for His presence to fall like rain, and they cried out for Him to come into their hearts like living water poured into jars of clay.

She witnessed in Eva what it must have looked like for her mom to watch her as she danced with images of her father. No earthly father could fulfill Christina’s want for love.

The tempo intensified and strings wailed with celebration as Eva, covered with a red satin sheet, leaped from her crouched position, arms spread wide as the graceful fluidity of two dancers, one passing in front, the other behind, wrapped a purple streamer to adorn her with a sash.

Christina sprang to her feet with an exuberant ecstasy that triggered the assembly to stand and praise the power of God to resurrect Christ to life. The band burst into a spirited rendition of “Heaven Is Here,” as dancers leaped off the stage with grand jetés, each taking an aisle to perform a mix of dance and ballet.

A singer belted out, “We won’t stop cryin’ out to Him, ’cause He hears us every time, yeah, He hears us every time.” The bass beat an interlude. The crowd joined in with “We won’t stop pouring out our love to Him, ’cause He loves us every time.”

“Yeah, He loves us every time,” rang out from the throng of students that had joined this Resurrection Sunday celebration.

Christina burst with tears of bottled sadness and her hands strained for love from above.  The singer looked down and sang directly to her.

“Wake up the normal life,

You can do whatever You want to, God,

Shake up eternal sight,

’Cause heaven is here now,

He’s all around us, heaven is Jesus,

It’s the moment we need.”

Her soul warmed as the omnipresence of God’s Spirit replaced empty sorrow with fullness of joy that she had never felt before. Her readiness and willingness to finally let go, to let go of the longing for her earthly father, opened her heart to receive the love of Father God, the Spirit of Love known as Jesus. Filled with the Holy Spirit, Christina bounced with joy and sang out the chorus, “Heaven is here now . . . ”

As the guitar and drum crescendoed, Christina vaulted high into the air. Her body glided with feet so light they appeared not even to touch the floor as she leaped, arched back, and twisted in mid-air an acrobatic corkscrew. With a diver’s fine-tuned strength, she flipped her legs up into pike position. Arms gracefully extended, she cartwheeled to bring her body upright into a toe-pointed spin, collapsed her legs and leaped to perform a grand jeté and descended to display a statuesque arabesque as the last chord strummed. Her eyes glistened as she looked upward to heaven.

The crowd cheered and the dance team encircled Christina as she held her pose, arms and leg forming a cross, perfectly balanced en pointe.

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Copyright 2017  © Jeff Cambridge

Excerpt from PURSUIT, a novel by Jeff Cambridge, a writer of transformational fiction with characters that tell life-changing stories.

This is a pre-published scene.

To read the scenes sequentially, begin with

“PURSUIT: A Novel – Prologue”

Your comments are welcomed and appreciated. Simply check one of the reaction boxes below, write a comment, or email me at bycambridge@gmail.com.

This novel is a work of fiction. Any references to real events, businesses, organizations, and locales are intended only to give the fiction a sense of reality and authenticity. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.