Hard To Dance With the Devil On Your Back
Published December 2010
In every culture and time, persons of faith, of all ages, have summoned trials and tribulations to find the endurance and strength to “dance.” They have danced with the weight of the world upon their shoulders, sustained by God and others dancing near them.
Hard to Dance With the Devil On Your Back is a seven-session Lenten study that looks at the transcendent struggle in the lives of believers, while helping us to enter the continually crumbling world surrounding Jesus and the disciples in the days preceding Easter.
Appropriate for both group and individual use, the study provides one session for each week in Lent. Each session includes a Scripture reference, a brief reading, questions for reflection or discussion, and a prayer.
The title of this study will remind you of the hymn written by Sydney Carter in 1963 "Lord of the Dance"
Sessions:
The Dance: 2 Corinthians 4:8-9; 2 Corinthians 12:9
A Parable: Luke 12:32; Matthew 19:2-5
The Wronged: Isaiah 53:3; 1 John 13:34-35; Matthew 12:20
The Wrong: Matthew 9:9-13
The Disciple Whom Jesus Loved: Judas: John 13:21-30; 1 John 4:18
When Worlds Collide: Jeremiah 18:1-6; Isaiah 49:16
Dancing with Holes in Your Moccasins: Matthew 5:14; Revelation 21:3
About the Author
Ray Buckley
Ray Buckley is the interim Director of the Center for Native American Spirituality and Christian Study. Buckley has served The United Methodist Church as a staff member of The United Methodist Publishing House, Director of the Native People’s Communication Office (UMCom) for nine years, and Director of Connectional Ministries for the Alaska Missionary Conference.
Most recently Buckley wrote Hard to Dance with the Devil on Your Back and contributed to New Dawn in Beloved community. Also, he is the author/illustrator of five books: God’s Love is Like…, The Give-Away: A Christmas Story in the Native American Tradition, The Wing, Christmas Moccasins, and Dancing with Words: Storytelling as Legacy, Culture, and Faith. He is also the author of Creator Sang a Welcoming Song, and Walking in These White Man Shoes, children and youth resources for the Women’s Dvision School of Mi