Not long after I came to Arlington Temple a wonderful woman from my previous church sent me a plant for my office. It was nice to be thought of, and I was happy to get it, because I like the look that a plant can bring to an office. However, I also knew that it would die. My mom had a cactus garden when I was growing up—this is the sum total of what I know about how to take care of plants.
And I wasn't wrong. In two years and some change this plant has died many deaths. If you look closely you can see where its branches are gray and broken off in a lot of places, and where one of the leaves is turning brown at the tip. Other brittle brown leaves litter my floor around where this plant stands. Basically, I'll be good about watering it for a while, and then I'll go on vacation, or I'll just get busy and forget, and the plant will start to die, until I notice it and desperately water it again, and somehow, life comes back.
I was sure when I came back into the office after New Year's and saw how sorry this plant was looking that it was the end for real. I picked off the dead leaves and there were hardly any left, maybe two branches' worth. It stood there, sparse, accusing. Out of guilt, I became really good at watering it for the next few days, not really expecting anything to come of it.
But then a few days later I saw these tiny, baby leaves appear. And they began to grow. And soon this plant, in spite of all my incompetence, was looking a little more alive again. This plant was determined to live.
This plant stands in my office as a reminder of the tenacity of resurrection. Resurrection, you see, is a stubborn thing.
We are told it was early morning, when it was still dark, that the women came to the tomb with their burial spices. Jesus had died on a Friday, just as the Jewish Sabbath was about to begin, and there hadn't been time to give him a proper burial then. But they had not forgotten. Even if they couldn't do anything else for him, they could do this.
They knew what they were expecting: a quiet garden, a sealed tomb, a linen-wrapped corpse, the stench of death. Death was death, after all.
Instead, they found the stone rolled away. Their hearts must have quickened as they went inside, wondering what was going on. Had someone taken his body? Why? What had they done? You can imagine their growing panic as they confirmed his body was nowhere to be found. When they turned they saw two men, or at least they looked like men, except they were glowing. The women cowered in fear—again, not knowing what was happening, but knowing it wasn't normal.
"Why do you look for the living among the dead?" one man asked.
That is not what they came there expecting.
Death, we think, is the most stubborn thing in the universe. Death is the one that is universal, the one thing that can't be made better, the one thing there is literally no coming back from. Death is the end of all ends.
But that morning, three women discovered that there is, in fact, something more stubborn even than death.
Have you ever been in a situation that it seems like there's no coming back from? I don't just mean literal death, which none of us have yet experienced, but maybe a prolonged illness, or grief over the loss of a loved one, or an addiction, or depression, or a period of life when simply nothing seems to be going right and everything is getting worse? Have you ever been in a situation where there is simply no life to be seen, no matter which way you look, and where it seems like there's no hope for things to be different?
I believe that's a story we can all tell at one time or another in our lives. Some of us can tell it looking back on it. Some of us might be still living it. The darkness seems to be closing in around us, and somehow, nothing can stop it.
It's hard to believe that God is still at work, even in a situation like that.
But that's what three women thought when they walked to the tomb that dark and quiet morning. And they found, in fact, that life refused to yield to death, and that God's love and goodness couldn't be stopped—even by the one thing with the power to stop everything.
There was a man who used to stop by the church a lot to meet with a homeless outreach worker. This man never smiled. I'm not sure if it would be correct to say he was always angry, but he always looked and sounded angry. If the outreach worker wasn't there he would knock loudly on my door and complain in words that made no sense to your average person about how everyone was giving him the runaround. This had been going on for years. I thought we would do this forever.
And there was new life, where I never thought I would see it.
He is one of a number of our homeless neighbors who have gotten housing with the help of A-SPAN in the past year or so. There's another woman who was here a lot, but it often seemed like she wasn't really here. It varied by the day, but it was hard to have a conversation with her that you could follow. But not long ago I saw her for the first time since she moved into her new apartment, and I had a clear, coherent conversation with her for maybe the first time. It felt like I was talking to a new person. And I hadn't been sure that was possible.
So many forces came together to keep these two of our neighbors down—forces of poverty, and mental illness, and the wear of life on the streets—and those forces were powerful, and persistent. But in the end there was something that was even more powerful, and even more persistent.
Of course it's not always simple as just showing up and finding an empty tomb. For Jesus, and the women at the tomb, resurrection happened nice and neatly: he was dead, and then he was alive. At least that's the story as it was passed on to us. Hope was lost, and then it was found again. In John's Gospel Jesus's clothes are even nicely folded in the tomb.
We never do find out what happened Saturday—probably because no one knows. What did it look like for death to give way to life?
One day, after we die, we may wake up to find that everything has been made new. But in the meantime, resurrection isn't always that neat and dramatic. Sometimes it's more like one new bud on a dead plant. It's one day sober. It's the first time you laughed after the divorce or the death. It's the first step you take when you can finally make it out of bed. It's one reason to hope when for so long there has been no reason to hope.
It seems our lives go through cycles, sometimes, of death and resurrection and death and resurrection.
But because Jesus lives, because he died and got up, we have reason to believe that death will always give way to life again, even when it's not as dramatic as an empty tomb on an early morning. Jesus lives, and God's power of resurrection is still at work in this world around us, not only promising us life after death, but present wherever love and life and grace refuse to give way to the forces of evil and sin and darkness and death. Wherever, despite all appearances to the contrary, life claws its way out of the tomb.
I think one of the most hopeless-seeming situations in our world right now is the ongoing violence in the Middle East and all the refugees it has created. We've all heard the horror stories—true horror stories—of children drowning as they swim to shore and families being turned away at borders and living in miserable camps as they wait for anyone to say yes to them. It seems like there is nothing to be done and it seems like evil and hate and destruction, in that part of the world, have simply won.
But I read about the welcome refugees are receiving in Greece, of all places, which has had so many of its own problems to deal with recently. Greece has seen an influx of around 50,000 refugees so far and is expected to see up to 100,000 more. I read of one couple handing out chocolate-filled croissants in a refugee camp on the Macedonian border. I read of a chef who works at a luxury hotel on the coast drives to the border four times a week to feed people. Of a man who doesn't drive, who takes long bus rides to the camp to deliver necessities. Shopkeepers whose profits have been destroyed by austerity measures are donating supplies. People who don't have much are opening their homes. I even saw, attached to this article, a picture of people from the island of Lesbos helping pull a boat full of refugees into the shore.
Their actions may not change things on a global scale, but you can be sure God is still in the business of resurrection in this world wherever love stubbornly refuses to give way to hate and fear, wherever grace and generosity stubbornly refuse to give way to sin and greed, wherever life and light breaks through in the midst of death and darkness.
Everything may seem lost, everything around us may seem hopeless, but if we pay attention, we might just see the dawn breaking, and the first sounds of a stone being rolled away.
That Sunday morning, three women made their way to a tomb, burial spices in hand.
They knew what they were expecting: a quiet garden, a sealed tomb, a linen-wrapped corpse, the stench of death. Death was death, after all. There was no escaping or reversing it. Death is the most stubborn thing in the world.
Where God is at work, it turns out, there is something more stubborn even then death.
Where God is at work, life always breaks through.
I don't know how you feel about good old-fashioned guilt on Good Friday but when I was in seminary seeking out a Good Friday service I knew I wanted to find one where they really laid it on thick. I wanted solemnity, and I wanted to confess my own failure and cowardice. I wanted to be accused of driving those nails into Jesus' hands myself. That's what I went to church for.
I'm not entirely sure what it is about Good Friday that pulls me toward that guilt and darkness. As much as any deep theological truth, I think it's partially a sense of drama: that's what helps me fully live into this retelling of the last week of Jesus' life, and what helps me to experience the contrast between the bittersweetness of Thursday's last supper and the glory of Easter, and today, the lowest point, death and betrayal and grief.
There is, of course, some deep theological truth in that. Our lives consist of all of these things.
But on days other than Good Friday I'm not always so big on the guilt. Every other day of the year, I'm pretty happy to just be an imperfect yet fairly good person who is trying her best. I want to live in the knowledge of grace and divine forgiveness and know that no matter what, I'm covered. And I'm loved. And of course, there is some deep theological truth in all of that, too.
But today is a day for our darker truths.
In 2008 I was studying for the summer at a seminary in India, and I ended up making a connection with this Gandhi scholar who led an interfaith group and ran an ashram in the area. I spoke at two of his events. The second of these events was scheduled for my very last day in India. A week or so beforehand, this man, this scholar, called me at my guest house to give me details. He reminded me that the talk I would be giving would fall on the anniversary of the US dropping the atomic bomb on Nagasaki—the second bomb—at the end of World War II. I say reminded me, but the truth is it had never occurred to me, nor would it have otherwise.
I thought, Wait a minute. Healing? But I didn't do anything! Regardless of how anyone feels about President Truman's wartime strategy choices, that happened almost 40 years before I was even born. That was not my fault. And now you want me to stand there, a lone American, in front of a group of Asian people, and say something healing?
But inside I was saying, I do not bear any guilt for this.
But in the next week I did some thinking and I thought about how my story is about more than just me. How that bombing was part of the heritage and the history that is a part of me. How the narratives that allowed for it and grew up around it, narratives of exceptionalism and scientific progress and collateral damage, are still part of my American narrative today. How my country, out of necessity or not, still drops bombs on people whose names I don't know and whose faces I can't see. How I don't really think much about that.
I started to think that maybe I bore some guilt for this, after all. Not because I played a part in it, but because I play a part in the brokenness that allowed for it that is still all around me.
When I look at the cross it reminds me of the same thing. I, of course, did not personally crucify Jesus. And who's to know, really, whether I would have betrayed him, like Judas; or denied him, like Peter; or run away, like the other disciples? Who's to know whether I would have been in the crowds shouting "Crucify him!"?
None of us can know that, of course.
Yet I'm told that Jesus bore my sins on that cross; not just Judas's or Peter's or the disciples' or the crowds'.
That's because, in the grand, cosmic scheme of things, it wasn't any of their actions that crucified Jesus. It was the sin and the brokenness of the world that God entered into. Because when pure good and pure love bump up against the fear and greed and bigotry and pride of this world, something has to give. It would have been the same in any time and place. Including ours.
All we have to do is watch the news to see the shambles that this world seems to be in all around us. Bombs are going off in Brussels and Ankara. Iraqis and Syrians continue to flee their homes only to be turned away at other borders. Around the world, and even close to home, people live in poverty. In our own country hatred and fear of the "other" seems to be on the rise.
These are the sins that Jesus bore. This is what Jesus died for.
And it's easy to stand at arm's length from any of those things and say, Not me, not my fault; but we, too, have let fear dictate our actions, and we, too, have justified revenge, and we, too, have turned away those in need, and we, too, have had plenty when other people have gone without. And we, too, have found it hard to care.
We have denied and betrayed and run away and shouted Crucify.
These are my sins that Jesus bore. This is what Jesus died for. I am guilty. We all are.
But in the cross the brokenness of the world meets, for the last time, the power of sacrificial love.
So in this cross God asks us to see not just guilt, but redemption. God asks us to see not just the judgment of our own brokenness, but the promise that there is more than that. That we can't escape the reality of our own sinfulness, but that it also doesn't have the last word.
In this cross is the promise that God is doing a new thing, and that all that brokenness—all our brokenness—is about to be transformed. And we get to play a part in that, too.
Recently we've been talking about commandments, about the things Jesus told his followers to do, the rule of life he gave them. As I was reading through the Gospels looking for these commandments that Jesus gave, I quickly realized that most of them came from Matthew and Luke, from the Sermon on the Mount or the Sermon on the Plain. Some of them were echoed in Mark, but hardly any came from the Gospel of John.
John isn't really the kind of Gospel where Jesus gives us definite and specific rules. John is the kind of Gospel where Jesus makes spiritual and other-worldly sounding statements, like "I am the true vine," and "I am the bread of life" and "In my Father's house are many rooms." The Jesus we meet in John's Gospel is simply not very concrete.
But here, tonight, in a borrowed room in a crowded city; here, tonight, as Jesus and his disciples share a meal for the last time; here, tonight, as he washes their feet, Jesus has one commandment to leave them with.
"Love one another," he says, "as I have loved you." This is his last will and testament.
The truth is it's still not very concrete, and maybe we would like some more specifics on what that all entails, and what exactly is required of us. But the thing about love is that it isn't very exact at all; it's more than just a set of requirements for us to check off. And in a sense, it's not something that can be commanded at all.
These disciples are a motley crew of poor fishermen from the backwater of Galilee, insurrectionists who were ready to fight the empire at a moment's notice, and tax collectors who worked for that same empire. They've certainly been through a lot together in the past few years, but Jesus isn't crazy to worry that perhaps there won't be a lot to hold them together once he is gone. If they were held together by anything, it probably wasn't going to be their deep, enduring warm feelings for each other.
But I guess love isn't really about that either.
Here's where I would normally say that while Jesus is talking to his disciples, commanding them to love one another, rather than the rest of the world, he really expects us to broaden that to include everyone, disciple or not. I believe that, and I think Jesus demonstrates that expectation throughout his life. But maybe there's a reason he puts this commandment in these words.
Often I think I have a harder time loving other followers of Jesus than I do loving people who aren't. If someone's not a Christian it's easy for me to accept that they probably have a somewhat different worldview from me. But when other Christians believe different things from me and live out their faith differently from me, it makes me mad because they're wrong. Sometimes I even resent the way they make other Christians look to the rest of the world. Sometimes, these are people I know in person; sometimes they are just people I see on TV or read about online. Sometimes I want to disown them, to disassociate myself from them, so that people don't think we are the same. Sometimes, the hardest thing for followers of Jesus to do is to love one another.
And it's those people Jesus expects me to kneel on the floor next to in humility and service, because I am not better than them.
Sentimental love, perhaps, can't be commanded; but service can be commanded, and respect can be commanded, and reminding ourselves that we don't have a claim on the entire truth of what it means to follow Jesus can be commanded. Listening to one another can be commanded.
In the book Blue Like Jazz which I've been rereading over Lent there's a story that reminds me of this. Don Miller, the author, had grown up in church, but it was a church where love had conditions, where you had to fit in to a certain mold in order to feel like you were one of the family. But he spent a summer as a young adult living in the woods and working at a ranch, and there he met a group of hippies, as he called them. They were a little out of the box, for him, but what he discovered is that they were really good at loving each other.
What really struck him is that they were interested in him. Not just polite, or respectful of their differences. They wanted to know about him. They wanted to know what he loved and what he hated, how he felt about things, what his dreams were and where he had been and what his story was. He said, "They loved me like a good novel." And he said that real, genuine interest made him lose all self-consciousness about how he was dressed and his mannerisms and how smart or interesting he actually was. And he said when he began to lose that self-consciousness, he began to gain that same kind of interest in other people, worrying less about himself and wanting to really know others.
And that struck me as a good, good way to love one another: to start by listening to one another, which itself can be an act of service, regardless of how we feel. To want to know each other, what makes us different and what makes us the same, and where we've been, and what our dreams are. And if we don't want to, to do it anyway. That's a kind of love that can be commanded, until perhaps it doesn't have to be anymore.
I think Jesus wants his followers to love one another because only when we know we are well-loved can we really start to let go of ourselves enough to love others. We abide in Jesus' love by keeping this commandment and being part of a community where love is the rule—like it or not. And maybe only when we really love each other can we really love the rest of the world. Maybe together, we can help each other love the right things.
In a Gospel where Jesus doesn't command much, he commands this. Love one another. That's what he leaves his disciples with. He knows everything else begins there.
The disciples must have been bursting with pride that day.
On that day, all eyes were on them. Or at least, all eyes were on the man they were with. Even though he rode a donkey, the crowds greeted him as if he were a warrior, a hero, riding in on a majestic stallion. They cheered and they shouted and they pushed toward the front and the little kids sat up on their parents' shoulders to get a better look. People took off their coats and they laid them on the ground, a makeshift red carpet for a surprise celebrity. And they pulled branches off the nearby date palms and they waved them in the air and they spread them on the ground, too.
And the disciples were with him. His inner circle. The people everyone wanted to be. And soon their leader would be victorious over all the forces that oppressed them, and he would sit on this throne and rule his kingdom, and they would rule alongside him.
It would have been hard to know, at the time, that by the end of the week things would look very different. Gone would be the crowds and the hero's welcome. And gone would be any sense of pride and glory in being associated with this man. Instead of the shouts of Hosanna there would be the silence of a garden at night, and the footsteps of the men who came to arrest him. And instead of walking beside him with their heads held high, they would be scared. They would run. They would deny ever knowing him. And they would watch him die.
It was a week that promised glory, but ended at the cross. Who could have known?
But if the disciples had stopped to think, they might have remembered a conversation from not so long ago, and it might have given them a clue.
"And who do you say that I am?" asked Jesus? "You are the Messiah," said Peter. It was the first time anyone had uttered those words.
He told them not to tell anyone and he told them what that meant: that he would have to suffer, and face rejection, and die, and rise again. Of course, at the time, it was hard to take it all in.
But then Jesus continued: "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me." This suffering he spoke of was not just his reality, but theirs, too.
This is the tenth commandment of Jesus: Take Up Your Cross. It's the tenth because I've arranged things that way, but it seems particularly appropriate for the Sunday we look ahead to Jesus' death on the cross.
It's safe to say that this includes us. That it is not just his reality, but ours, too.
Like with other of Jesus' commandments, we sometimes use this one to mean things it doesn't really mean. The phrase it's just my cross to bear is one we often use or understand to mean things we have no choice but to put up with, like a long-term illness or a person we don't like but can't avoid.
This summer a woman I had never met came into the church to pray, and when she was done she came to talk to me. She was on vacation, but she wasn't happy. She told me about her husband and how he spoke to her, how he told her she was fat and unattractive and worthless, and how she was starting to believe him.
My heart broke for this woman, especially when she told me she believed it was her duty as a Christian to stay with him. "We all have our cross to bear," she told me. I had heard of people using this phrase to justify their own abuse. I had never actually heard it before.
"I don't think that's what Jesus meant," I told her.
"I think it is," she told me.
I wish I could say I had been able to convince her that this kind of life wasn't what God wanted for her, but I couldn't. But hopefully I can convince you: that's not what Jesus meant. Jesus is talking about losing your life in order to find it. He's talking about dying in order to be reborn into something new, and more real, just like Jesus himself was. I didn't see anything life-giving about this woman's situation.
Taking up your cross isn't about just grinning and bearing the bad things that happen to us, even though there may very well be some spiritual lesson or benefit in how we face sickness or unhappiness or roadblocks in our way. Taking up your cross is something you do willingly, not something that happens to you or is foisted upon you. It's something you take on freely for the sake of Jesus and the life he offers.
For others of us taking up your cross might invoke images of martyrdom, and I think that's at least closer to the truth. After all, Jesus is saying these words to his disciples who, according to tradition, will go on to actually die for spreading the word about Jesus, some of them on their own literal crosses. Sometimes a life of discipleship might really mean dying, whether you are the Apostle Peter, crucified upside-down at the hands of Emperor Nero, or Martin Luther King Jr., shot on a balcony, or Rachel Corrie, the young woman who died standing in front of an Israeli bulldozer in the Gaza Strip. Jesus' words are sometimes less metaphorical than we would like them to be, but the truth is that following Jesus means living for something we are willing to die for—just like Jesus did.
One of my favorite movies is Romero, about the life of Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador, and in the last scene of the movie you see him in church, blessing the elements for communion, as the car you know holds his would-be assassins pulls up slowly outside. They shoot just as he is lifting up the chalice of wine, and he falls to the ground.
Romero really was assassinated while saying mass in 1980. I once went to his house in San Salvador, and there is a painting there, this powerful image of him with his arms in the air as the blood of Christ spills down on him. This picture gives me chills.
But at the same time that was only one day, only one scene; and for the rest of the movie, and the rest of his life, he lived faithfully as he stood up for the rights of his country's poor, and preached and advocated on their behalf, and knew them, and helped them, and loved them. And it strikes me that all of that before his martyrdom was just as much "taking up his cross" as when he finally died for the way he lived.
Luke seems to acknowledge this, even more than the other Gospels, because where in Matthew and Mark Jesus says, "If any want to become my followers, let them take up their cross," in Luke he says, "Let them take up their cross daily." And that changes things.
If you like big words there is a word I like: cruciform. It just means "cross-shaped." To take up our cross, daily, I think, is to live a cruciform life.
And that is to say that for those of us who want to be followers of Jesus, we must live lives of sacrifice. How else can we claim to follow a man who sacrificed everything?
And what are we called to sacrifice? I guess that depends on what it's hardest for us to let go of.
For some of us it might be our ambition. We want to be successful, to climb the ladder, but maybe that's not the most important work God has for us to do. Maybe, in fact, it gets in the way of whatever else God has for us to do, when it takes us away from our families and our communities and leaves us less time to notice and help others. It sounds like no way to live.
For some of us it might be our need for security, and I mean that as in physical security and financial security, and emotional security, among others. Are we scared to go to certain places or speak to certain people, or to welcome them into our homes or our country? Are we scared that if we give to others we might not have enough ourselves? Discipleship never was a secure existence, but fear sounds like no way to live.
For some of us it might be our reputation. I know on occasion our ministry with homeless folks here at Arlington Temple has drawn attention from our neighbors, who aren't sure they like the looks of the people who sometimes congregate outside our doors. It's a question we've had to ask ourselves from time to time: is a relationship with some of our neighbors worth risking what other neighbors think of us? I'm inclined to say generally yes, because denying Christ in one person for the approval of another person sounds like no way to live.
For some of us it might be our whole worldview—a worldview with us at the center and everybody else orbiting around us, a worldview of "us" vs. "them," where some people are good and some people are wholly evil. Dying to self means sacrificing our selfish, divisive, ungodly views of the world around us, and when we have lived that way for a long time, that can be a hard and painful thing to do. But it also sounds like no way to live.
In our young adult Lenten discussion group a couple weeks ago (I told you we've been reading through the book Blue Like Jazz together), the question came up: what do you believe that costs you something?
The answers were varied: one person wouldn't compromise certain values for the promise of a higher-paying job; one person mentioned time spent on spiritual growth that couldn't be spent on other things; I talked about money, and my own struggle to live out the kind of generous life I believe Jesus wants from me.
We sacrificed different things, but in everything, there was something to be gained in the losing.
Which is the point: we take up our cross and die to ourselves so that we can experience real, true, abundant, eternal life.
Most of us probably wish, a lot of the time, that we could have one without the other. That we could experience God's glory without the suffering and sacrifice God calls us to. That we could have new life without dying first. That's probably why things like prosperity theology are so popular, with its promises that God will shower you with success and honor and riches if you are just faithful enough. It's why people come to church on Palm Sunday and Easter but not Good Friday. We want the glory. We don't want the cross.
Neither did the disciples. That's why it was so easy to walk alongside Jesus on Palm Sunday, and why they wavered and scattered later when things took a turn for the worse. They wanted to sit on his left side and his right side as he ruled his kingdom. What they didn't realize is that resurrection necessitates death, and the road to the Kingdom of God always first leads to the cross.
I took an African American history class in college, and one of our books was called My Soul is Rested. I remember learning the story behind that title. It came from the time of the Montgomery bus boycotts at the beginning of the civil rights movement. Someone asked one seventy-two year old African American woman how she was holding up walking everywhere. And she famously replied, "My feet is tired, but my soul is rested." She sacrificed her own comfort so that she and everyone else who looked like her would see a better day. In that act of sacrifice, one weary soul found rest. She found life in losing it, just a little bit.
If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.
Today as we enter into Holy Week, remembering the events of the last week of Jesus' life, we know where they are leading: to Good Friday, and only then, to Easter.
Even as he rides triumphantly into Jerusalem to the cheers and songs of the crowds, Jesus prepares to take up his cross. Are we ready to do the same—every day?
Are you living a cruciform life?
Are you prepared to find your life by losing it?
For those of us who want to follow Jesus, there's simply no other way.
When I began this series on the Ten Commandments of Jesus, I told you my method was simple. I combed through the Gospels writing down everything Jesus just straight up, directly told us to do. No ambiguous parables, no advice given to specific people in specific contexts, nothing too metaphorical. I was going for the simplest possible rule of life for someone who wants to be a follower of Jesus.
I'm reminding you of that because I acknowledge that today's commandment, Let Your Light Shine, breaks my own rule. It's metaphorical. For that matter, so is next week's, Take Up Your Cross. We read those and we have to think about them some. Their meaning is perhaps not immediately obvious, and maybe isn't even supposed to be.
So this is a commandment that almost didn't make the cut.
"You are the light of the world," he says. And light is meant to shine. For light, also, shining is not optional. But, light can be hidden, just like salt can be mixed and diluted. It just doesn't make any sense. After all, you don't light a lamp and then cover it with something so no one can see the light.
I decided that was a commandment that made the cut.
So far we've talked about a bunch of specific commandments: Seek forgiveness and forgive others. Treat others as you'd have them treat you. Don't judge people. Love your enemies. Resist the temptation of revenge. All things, one could argue, that are inherent to who we are as followers of Jesus. Things that, for followers of Jesus, are not optional, whether we practice them well or poorly.
And I think Let Your Light Shine is the commandment that wraps all these other commandments up. I think what this commandment is asking us to do is to live all those other commandments out loud. For the world to see.
But not for the show of it all. Not so we get a trophy or everyone else in the world can see how good and holy we are. After all, we are in the season of Lent, and one of the traditional texts for the beginning of Lent is Matthew 6, also from the Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus warns people to go into their rooms when they pray rather than making a big thing of it on the street, and to donate money in secret, rather than trying to act like you're Daddy Warbucks, and to act happy when you fast, so that you're not putting on a show of being miserable just so people know you're fasting.
As you might be able to guess, none of those things count as letting your light shine. Not if what it's really all about is you.
This week at Wednesday morning Bible study one of our previously-homeless participants told a story. His name is David and when he was out on the streets, he said, he had a good friend named Chuck. He and Chuck would camp together on the streets and under bridges. They would also get drunk together.
For a long time David had heard people talk about A-SPAN and the fact that there was help for him if he wanted it. So one day he decided to meet with an outreach worker, and it was the beginning of a long road to recovery. He got sober. He straightened himself out. He got a place to live. Unfortunately Chuck couldn't yet tell the same story.
The thing is I don't think it was just about the apartment. I think it was bigger than that: what Chuck saw was a life that was back on track. And David, simply by doing what he knew he needed to do, pointed Chuck in that direction too. David told us that just the day before he had helped Chuck move into his own new place.
It wasn't about David. It was about something bigger than David, which all of a sudden was opened up to Chuck in a new way through his friend.
Let your light shine—but it's not about you.
"God is light," says 1 John 1:5. "In him there is no darkness at all." This is the same God who went before the Israelites in a pillar of fire by night to lead the way through the desert where they were wandering, and whose very presence caused Moses' face to glow.
If God is light, and we are the light of the world, then maybe it's possible our light isn't our own. That our job is to get out of our own way enough to let God's light shine. To not cover that light up with our bushel baskets of selfishness and entitlement and judgment and fear, but to let it be present in our lives in a way that others can see. In a way that points them to something bigger.
"Let your light shine," Jesus says, "so that others may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven." Again, it's not just about doing things for others to see. It's about not hiding the light that is already in us that comes from God.
Which brings me to my second point: not only is it not about us, it's not for us, either. It's for the benefit of those who are shined on.
I read a story recently—a letter, actually, published by a woman who lost her father. It was called An Open Letter to the Whole Foods Shoppers Who Consoled Me When I Learned of My Dad's Suicide.
Her fellow shoppers, on their way into the store for their own average Monday morning errands, could have stopped and stared, or they could have pretended not to see. Instead, they surrounded her.
"I remember," she wrote, "in that haze of emotions, one of you asked for my phone and who you should call. What was my password? You needed my husband's name as you searched through my contacts. I remember that I could hear your words as you tried to reach my husband for me, leaving an urgent message for him to call me. I recall hearing you discuss among yourselves who would drive me home in my car and who would follow that person to bring them back to the store.
"I remember one of you asking if you could pray for me and for my father. I must have said yes, and I recall now that Christian prayer being offered up to Jesus for my Jewish father and me, and it still both brings tears to my eyes and makes me smile. In my fog, I told you that I had a friend, Pam, who worked at Whole Foods and one of you went in search of her and, thankfully, she was there that morning and you brought her to me. I remember the relief I felt at seeing her face, familiar and warm. She took me to the back, comforting and caring for me so lovingly until my husband could get to me. And I even recall as I sat with her, one of you sent back a gift card to Whole Foods; though you didn't know me, you wanted to offer a little something to let me know that you would be thinking of me and holding me and my family in your thoughts and prayers.
That, I think, is what it means to let your light shine: to live Jesus' rule of life so naturally that when there is need and brokenness and darkness in the world, people can see something different.
Of course "living Jesus' rule of life naturally" is maybe not as automatic as all that: it's something we do have to work at, and fall down at, and get better at, by God's grace.
But light shines even through a cracked vessel, and God does give us the grace we need to love and serve and confess and forgive.
The light is there: all we have to do is let it shine.
But there's one more important aspect of this commandment, and that is that it's not something we do alone.
It might be tempting to think that we can be followers of Jesus alone, and the other commandments we've talked about might lead us in that direction. We can seek and extend forgiveness in private, one-on-one with someone we've wronged or who has wronged us. We can do good deeds for others on our own. We can work on our own judgment of others and our own hatred of our enemies and our own tendencies toward lashing out instead of giving freely on our own. It's possible.
But we can't really be salt or light on our own.
What's one grain of salt on its own? It doesn't make anything very salty. And what's one candle on a dark night? It's something, of course, but why be a candle when you can be a city, lit up on a hill?
The "you" that Jesus uses in this passage is plural. But "light" is collective. We all make up that light, together. We all shine, together. We all point to something bigger than us, together. We are, together, God's people in the world, even as we scatter after a Sunday service. To witness to something beyond us, we have to be part of something bigger than us.
I don't happen to believe that we can prove the existence of God, or prove that Jesus is Lord, just by smart biblical arguments. If people don't already believe that themselves, they don't care about our smart biblical arguments. And you can argue all day about natural proofs for the existence of God, proofs from creation, but the truth is, you tend to not get very far with those unless you're talking to someone who agrees with you anyway.
Some people may have been converted to Christianity because they heard a convincing argument, but I happen to believe that the most convincing argument—for OR against—is simply how we as Christians live our lives. We're not going to follow Jesus perfectly, God knows that. But are we trying? Are we letting God's grace work in our lives?
Not long after I first got to Arlington Temple, I visited Central UMC in Ballston on a Friday morning to learn about the meal they host for our homeless neighbors each week. I met a girl there, a young woman slightly younger than me, who was helping prepare and serve the meal. She was also part of the young adult group that gathered each Thursday evening to chop vegetables and do the pre-prep for the meal.
She wasn't even sure if she believed in God, but there she was, each Thursday evening and each Friday morning, hanging out at church and helping make sure her neighbors were fed, because this community pointed beyond itself to something bigger. Because this community was living out its call to follow Jesus in a way that made other people take notice—and want to be a part of it, too.
She wanted what they had.
As you live and love, forgive and let go, confess and give and respond to violence with peace—are you living in such a way that people can see God's light because you shine?
Maybe someone else will see something they like, too, and they'll join us in this life that we call abundant.
One of my first days in Lesotho, in the summer of 2004 when I went there with a volunteer group, I came across what struck me as the most quintessentially Basotho scene. We were on our way to visit some friends of Ron, our group leader, who had previously spent time in the country in the Peace Corps, and as we walked these dirt roads outside the capital city of Maseru to their house, I saw him: a Basotho man, wrapped in a traditional Basotho blanket, standing very straight and still as he watched over the cattle that were grazing in his field.
Immediately I wanted a picture.
That sounded reasonable. "Great!" I said, and snapped my picture, and we all went on our way.
I didn't send him the picture. In fact, I never even stopped to get an address. Of course, I meant to. In the back of my mind I thought maybe I could send it to Ron's friends. But that didn't happen.
A few years later I was spending the summer studying in India, and I spent a weekend outside of the seminary's campus with a student who lived in a nearby village. He hosted me and showed me around and taught me about life in this community, and it was one of the first times during a summer that often felt incredibly lonely that I felt like I had a friend. I felt like I owed this guy. So when, in the course of conversation, he asked if I could help him get a book by an author he liked that wasn't available in India, I said sure. This time I wrote down the title and the student's contact information. I remembered that picture, and I was going to follow through this time.
I never sent him the book. There was way too much going on when I got back to the US to think about that.
The thing is, I probably tell these stories and they don't sound like a very big deal. So I didn't send someone a picture or a book. Maybe it would have been better if I had, but in the end, even those of us with great intentions fall down on them sometimes. Both the picture and the book are probably long forgotten, along with a lifetime collection of cancelled RSVP's and all the things I've totally been meaning to get around to doing.
I mean, they're just words. Words count, but not as much as actions. Not as much as loving and serving and forgiving people.
It's right there in the Sermon on the Mount, right there with all the important stuff.
"You have heard it said," Jesus starts off, like he starts so many of his teachings from the Sermon on the Mount, "You shall not swear falsely, but carry out the vows you have made to the Lord." OK, so far, so good.
Truthfully, for all the Bible has to say about the power of words in general, this teaching is fairly specific, which maybe also makes it seem less absolutely fundamental to our lives. Everyone knows, Jesus says, that if you make an oath, if you swear to God, it would behoove you to follow through. You should not make such an oath lightly. That all makes sense.
But again, there Jesus is calling us above and beyond what we know to make sense: and this time, he tells us actually not to swear at all.
It seems a bit over the top. After all, oaths and vows serve a good social function: oaths of office, oaths of enlistment, marriage vows, the Hippocratic oath, giving sworn testimony in court. I, personally, am glad that my doctor is bound by the Hippocratic oath, by which he or she is sworn to certain ethical standards. I'm glad that Jon made some vows to me at our wedding, and vice versa. I do think there are promises that mean more spoken in a formal setting in front of people than if they are casual, or assumed.
I tend to think Jesus is probably OK with these things, that what he wants us to avoid is vows casually taken, like when we say "I swear to God" just to convince someone that we're really, really serious. But there are people who take Jesus literally on this, certain groups such as Quakers who refuse outright to take oaths. And maybe they're right. I mean, who am I to put exceptions in the mouth of Jesus?
So what is the problem Jesus has with oaths and swearing?
First of all, I think it has something to do with humility. Jesus says, "Do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black." To swear before God, and before others, is presumptuous. We don't control the future. Who knows what will happen, and how that might affect our intentions?
It may have been just a turn of phrase, but there was some humility in that, too. Who really knows where any of us will be next Sunday? How can we truly promise something when the future isn't even promised to us?
I think also of a man named Jephthah, who appears in the book of Judges in the Old Testament. Jephthah, in a time of war, made a vow to God. He said, "If you will give the Ammonites into my hand, then whoever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me when I return victorious from the Ammonites shall be the Lord's, to be offered up by me as a burnt offering" (Judges 11:30-31.) It's possible—we can hope—that he was expecting that to be an animal. Well, they beat the Ammonites, and Jephthah returns home victorious, and there coming out of his house to great him with a song of triumph is his only daughter.
I'd argue that there are some vows, made in poor judgment, that it's better not to keep. And yet this story also warns us to watch our words and our promises carefully, lest circumstances change, and we find ourselves committed to something we never meant to be committed to. In fact, even when we do take some of those socially necessart oaths, we probably need to keep in mind who it is our first commitment is to.
But Jesus doesn't mean we shouldn't ever talk about the future; that we shouldn't ever make commitments; that we shouldn't ever give someone our word. Instead, he says, "Let your word be 'Yes, yes,' or 'No, no.'" Straightforward. No fancy stuff. No swearing to God. No putting your hand on a Bible. No "May lightning strike me right now if I'm lying!" Because in the end, those rhetorical flourishes are meaningless. Either we mean the things we say, or we don't. Jesus says to mean what we say.
In other words, let's not think that we only have to keep our promises some of the time, when we say some magic words. Instead, let's be people who can be trusted, all the time, no matter what. People who say something and follow through, not because we swore dramatically, but because our word is good. People you can count on, whether we're talking big, like marriage vows, or small, like the promise of a picture in the mail.
It's not a very flashy aspect of discipleship.
Can people count on you? Can your family count on you to be there when you've said you'll be there? Can your colleagues count on you to follow through on the work you've said you'll complete? Can your friends count on your support when you say you're there for them? Can your church community count on you to fulfill the membership vows you've made? If you say you'll pray for someone, do you?
As in everything, none of us fulfill this commandment perfectly. We forget. Things come up. Commitments compete with each other. We let each other down. As in everything, there is grace, and as in everything, God expects us to extend that same grace to others.
But underneath it all—is your word good?
I actually believe this teaching of Jesus even goes beyond the limited scope of oaths and understood promises. When Jesus says "Let your answer be 'Yes, yes' or 'No, no," I think he's talking about integrity, and authenticity.
Are we the same people on the inside that we present ourselves to be on the outside?
For the season of Lent I've been rereading the book Blue Like Jazz with a group of young adults here at church, and there's a part that I came across in our reading for this week. The author, Donald Miller, is talking about his friend Andrew, and how he admires Andrew because Andrew really believes in things. He says on Saturday mornings Andrew sets up a little stand on the sidewalk and feeds homeless people in his neighborhood, and he talks to them and prays with them and gets to know them. And he does it because that's what he believes Jesus wants him to do.
Do I live out what I say I believe? If I say I believe everyone is equal and beloved in the eyes of God, do I truly treat people the same? If I rail against America's consumerist culture, am I making an effort to actually buy less? If I believe in feeding the hungry and visiting the sick and welcoming the stranger, am I doing it? If I believe in the power of prayer, am I praying, regularly?
Or am I sometimes saying "Yes" with my words and "No" with my life?
It's not exactly an oath, but I do think there are times when we try to promise people—friends, significant others, colleagues, strangers, society—that we're something we're really not. And instead, maybe we say 'Yes, yes' or 'No, no,' by owning our struggles as well as our values. By being real, and not putting on an act.
We may not always get it right. Nobody gets it all right. But here, in this most mundane commandment of Jesus, is a call to do the things we promise to do and be the people we promise to be. To not make those promises lightly, but to be faithful to them as we trust God is faithful to God's.
Because if you think about it, everything else we do as followers of Jesus probably starts right there.
 Donald Miller, Blue Like Jazz, p. 110-111.


London International Group, the UK condom and gloves manufacturer, has returned to the black in fiscal 1995 after shedding its loss-making photoprocessing operations last summer. Its annual after-tax profit was £11.7 million compared with a loss of £173.7 million a year earlier. Turnover on LIG's continuing business - health & personal products -, rose 5% to £286.7 million, "despite brand disposals, currency weakness in southern Europe and a more difficult but improving situation in the US", the company says.


text:
FMWR offers new fitness options
By Karen A. Iwamoto, Hawaii Army Weekly, U.S. Army Garrison-HawJanuary 16, 2015
1 / 1 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Fitness instructor Kyoko Fujibayashi, right, leads Elba Adams, an Army spouse, in an hour-long kickboxing class at the Schofield Health & Fitness Center, Jan. 6. (Photo Credit: Karen A. Iwamoto, Hawaii Army Weekly, U.S. Army GarrisonHawaii ) VIEW ORIGINAL
WHEELER ARMY AIRFIELD, Hawaii -- Resolving to lose weight and stay fit at the beginning of a new year is so common it's become a cliché.
But this year, the Schofield Health & Fitness Center, part of garrison's Directorate of Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation, is making it easier to stick to that resolution with its first-ever Fitness Resolution on Saturday, Jan. 17, at the center.
The event is free and open to all Department of Defense cardholders and their family members 13 and older.
Attendees can meet with representatives from Sgt. Yano Library, DFMWR's Outdoor Recreation program, Island Divers and nutritionists from Tripler Army Medical Center, among others.
The event also provides an opportunity to participate in 15-minute previews of fitness classes offered by the Schofield Health & Fitness Center.
Megan Miller, Schofield Health & Fitness Center manager, encourages those interested in improving their health and fitness to attend the Fitness Resolution and consider signing up for a class anyway.
"All of the classes can be done at your own pace," she said. "The point is to keep moving, even if you can't do it as fast as everybody else."
There's something for even the youngest of participants. The center is hosting a 10-week Zumbini class for children 0-3 years old at 11 a.m. on Thursdays.
The first Zumbini demonstration kicked off on Thursday, Jan. 8, and the first class starts on Thursday, Jan. 22. The cost is $145 for 10 weeks. Call the center for drop-in rates.
-- Schofield Health & Fitness Center 2015 Calendar of Events
Classes are $4, except where otherwise noted. The center accepts cash or check, and is located at 1554 Trimble Road, Bldg. 582. Its hours of operation are 6 a.m.-7:30 p.m., Monday-Friday, and 7 a.m.-2 p.m., Saturday. Call 808-655-8007 or visit www.himwr.com/sports-a-fitness-calendar.
-- Bootcamp
5:30-6:20 p.m., Tuesdays and Thursdays
-- BYOBootcamp (Bring Your Offspring Bootcamp)
8:30-9:30, Tuesdays and Thursdays ($60 for six weeks or $7 to drop in; class meets at Ralston Field)
-- Cardio Kickboxing
8:30-9:30 a.m., Wednesdays
-- Cycle
11:45 a.m.-12:30 p.m., Mondays
5:30-6:20 p.m., Mondays (free)
5:30-6:20 p.m., Wednesdays
10:15-11:15 a.m., Saturdays
-- R.I.P.P.E.D.
8:30-9:30 a.m., Mondays
9:45-10:45 a.m., Wednesdays
-- Yoga
8-9:00 a.m., Saturdays
-- Zumba
6:20-7:20 p.m., Mondays-Thursdays
9-10 a.m., Thursdays-Fridays (Outdoors)
9-10 a.m., Saturdays
U.S. Army Garrison-Hawaii
January 17, 2020Army Materiel Command supports 2020 wellness, fitness resolutions
January 16, 2020Delivery of new Army Combat Fitness Test equipment begins
January 16, 2020Belvoir Soldiers train for ACFT certification
January 16, 2020Fort Drum community members take on 10-week fitness challenge
January 16, 2020Eighth Army Engineers Install ACFT Equipment
January 14, 2020The Michigan National Guard first in Midwest to receive new ACFT equipment
January 14, 2020Cadet achieves max grade in total body fitness test
January 13, 2020Camp Zama tai chi class offers wide range of benefits
January 13, 2020OSHA Written Plans: Are you in compliance?
January 10, 2020NY National Guard Soldiers train for new fitness test
January 10, 2020New York Guardsmen train for Army's new combat fitness test at home
January 10, 2020Remote Army clinic sustains patient care for NATO and more
January 8, 2020Mentally and physically strong: Work ethic carries Army veterinarian
January 3, 2020New Cornerstone OTA boosts XM1128 development and the industrial base

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


1st time posting please bear with me i'm semi computer smart! i got a laptop from a family member that passed it has vista on it i've tired alot of different ideas to gain access into the os, with no success. i went thru command prompt and activated the Administrator then change password word but no matter what i've tried (ophcrack, burnin iso image to disk using roxio) and the pwd cracker disk. but whenever the computer boots it always shows the icon picture and the user "barb" (which by the way when i do a net user in command prompt it only says their is admin and a guest. PLEASE HELP would love to get this laptop running!?


text:
News story: Defence Minister attends land event Dynamic Vehicle Demonstration 2016
The Defence Vehicle Demonstration (DVD) 2016, held at Millbrook Proving Ground in Bedfordshire, brings together more than 250 companies and is focussed on demonstrating the equipment and technology – current and future - which will keep the British Army—and the UK—at the forefront of global capability.
Among the equipment on show were the Army's tank carrier, the Heavy Equipment Transporter and Virtus, one of the most advanced integrated body armour systems in the world. Defence Minister Harriet Baldwin toured the showcase and met with leading members of Defence industry, alongside the Chief of the General Staff, General Sir Nick Carter, and the CEO of the Minstry of Defence's (MOD) Defence Equipment and Support body (DE&S), Tony Douglas. On the day the UK celebrates its reserves, the Minister was delighted to meet reservist personnel from all three services.
Speaking at the event, Minister for Defence Procurement, Harriett Baldwin said:
Over the next decade we are committed to spending over £178 billion on equipment and equipment support. To capitalise on our national security strengths, Government and industry work more efficiently, more innovatively, and more internationally.
It's at events like these – with its potent mix of Army, Industry, and Defence procurement experts – that ideas take hold, relationships are formed, and things get done.
DVD 2016 is jointly sponsored by the Army and DE&S, and seeks to foster ever more effective innovation and collaboration between Government and industry—from large companies to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)—to develop ideas and generate greater understanding of technologies, capabilities and requirements.
This year, DVD is organised around three mutually supportive themes: Ready Forces, Strike, and Reducing Logistic Need. Each of these underpins the Army's fitness to meet future challenges: to develop, modernise, and sustain capability in a complex and developing world.
Strike. The in-service and future platforms required to deliver the Army's new Strike capability: the ability to rapidly project land power and dominate the ground.
Reducing Logistic Need. The technologies and innovations to make the Army as efficient as possible
Ready Forces. The capabilities to enable the right forces, at the right readiness, to deal with the full range of operational demands that could be placed upon them.
Tony Douglas, CEO of Defence Equipment & Support, said:
Our aim is, and always will be, to deliver outstanding equipment and support to our Armed Forces.
DVD is of great importance in helping us achieve this goal. It is an excellent opportunity for suppliers, including SMEs, to bring innovative solutions to the table.
The event also allows DE&S to continue strengthening its relationship with industry to ensure we have a shared vision on innovation and prosperity.
News story: Defence Secretary meets Australian defence minister following £20bn British warship deal
Wightsparker
News story: Autonomy on the front line: Defence Minister announces world-leading UK...
News story: Accelerating Defence Innovation
News story: Laser weapon prototype part of new Defence innovation initiative
News story: UK Innovation: Laser Weapon Contract Awarded
Appointment of Chargé d'Affaires ad interim of the UK Mission to Afghanistan: Hugo Shorter
Universities pledge to end use of non-disclosure agreements
Latest: Sumo


text:
IDF Rates the SCD19 Routines!
By *Wallace,
September 25, 2021 in Dancing With The Stars
*Lily
Tilly Ramsey & Nikita Kuzmin - "I Won't Dance" (Quickstep): 7
AJ Odudu & Kai Widdrington - "Game of Survival" (Paso Doble): 7
Dan Walker & Nadiya Bychkova - "King of the Road" (American Smooth): 6
Rhys Stephenson & Nancy Xu - "The Charleston" (Charleston): 9
Sara Davies & Aljaž Škorjanec - "No More Tears (Enough is Enough)" (Argentine Tango): 7
John Whaite & Johannes Radebe - "Acuyuyé" (Samba): 9
Tom Fletcher & Amy Dowden - "Iris" (Viennese Waltz): 8
Rose Ayling-Ellis & Giovanni Pernice - "Symphony" (Contemporary): 10
*Wallace 83 posts
taylorkat 16 posts
*Diana 19 posts
ungodlyhour 23 posts
*Amanda
Obviously haven't been voting because I've been busy and just recently caught up, but I'm sad to see that Rose didn't get a perfect 10 for her Tango or Contemporary in this.
Glad that John could get a perfect 10 to go alongside AJ and Rose. ❤
I forgot that Kelvin was one of those celebs constantly lowballed in the rating thread during their season even after their perfect 10 worthy dances until this post and now I'm mad all over again that
lhdang2000
John Whaite & Johannes Radebe - "Acuyuyé" (Samba): 10
*Wallace
Going to close the voting now. Thanks to everyone who voted. Results and this week's voting form coming up shortly!
IDF Rates Strictly Come Dancing Series 19 Routines (Week 8 )
Score Averages:
1. Rose Ayling-Ellis & Giovanni Pernice - "Symphony" (Contemporary): 89 / 9.88
2. Rhys Stephenson & Nancy Xu - "The Charleston" (Charleston): 86 / 9.55
3. John Whaite & Johannes Radebe - "Acuyuyé" (Samba): 83 / 9.22
4. Tom Fletcher & Amy Dowden - "Iris" (Viennese Waltz): 71 / 7.88
5. Tilly Ramsey & Nikita Kuzmin - "I Won't Dance" (Quickstep): 68 / 7.55
6. AJ Odudu & Kai Widdrington - "Game of Survival" (Paso Doble): 66 / 7.33
7. Sara Davies & Aljaž Škorjanec - "No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)" (Argentine Tango): 60 / 6.66
8. Dan Walker & Nadiya Bychkova - "King of the Road" (American Smooth): 57 / 6.33
*9 votes
Here would be the SCD equivalent version of the scores:
1. Rose Ayling-Ellis & Giovanni Pernice - "Symphony" (Contemporary): 40 (+1)
2. Rhys Stephenson & Nancy Xu - "The Charleston" (Charleston): 38 (-2)
3. John Whaite & Johannes Radebe - "Acuyuyé" (Samba): 37 (-1)
4. Tom Fletcher & Amy Dowden - "Iris" (Viennese Waltz): 32 (+2)
5. Tilly Ramsey & Nikita Kuzmin - "I Won't Dance" (Quickstep): 30 (+1)
6. AJ Odudu & Kai Widdrington - "Game of Survival" (Paso Doble): 29 (+1)
7. Sara Davies & Aljaž Škorjanec - "No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)" (Argentine Tango): 27 (-5)
8. Dan Walker & Nadiya Bychkova - "King of the Road" (American Smooth): 25 (-4)
Overall Dances Averages:
1. AJ Odudu & Kai Widdrington - "Don't Bring Lulu" (Charleston): 10
2. Rose Ayling-Ellis & Giovanni Pernice - "Shivers" (Tango): 9.9
3. Rose Ayling-Ellis & Giovanni Pernice - "Symphony" (Contemporary): 9.88
4. John Whaite & Johannes Radebe - "Milord" (Charleston): 9.6
5. Rhys Stephenson & Nancy Xu - "The Charleston" (Charleston): 9.55
6. AJ Odudu & Kai Widdrington - "Dangerous Woman" (Viennese Waltz): 9.5
7. Rose Ayling-Ellis & Giovanni Pernice - "Fallin'" (Viennese Waltz): 9.4
8. AJ Odudu & Kai Widdrington - "Edge of Seventeen" (Argentine Tango): 9.3
9. John Whaite & Johannes Radebe - "Acuyuyé" (Samba): 9.22
9. John Whaite & Johannes Radebe - "He's a Pirate" (Paso Doble): 9.22
11. AJ Odudu & Kai Widdrington - "I Have Nothing" (American Smooth): 8.88
11. Rose Ayling-Ellis & Giovanni Pernice - "Rose's Theme" (Foxtrot): 8.88
13. John Whaite & Johannes Radebe - "Shape of My Heart" (Rumba): 8.87
14. AJ Odudu & Kai Widdrington - "Gold Dust" (Jive): 8.72
15. Sara Davies & Aljaž Škorjanec - "Por Una Cabeza" (Tango): 8.7
16. Tom Fletcher & Amy Dowden - "Amparito Roca" (Paso Doble): 8.62
17. John Whaite & Johannes Radebe - "Bad Moon Rising" (Quickstep): 8.2
17. Sara Davies & Aljaž Škorjanec "Dream a Little Dream of Me" (Foxtrot): 8.2
19. Tilly Ramsey & Nikita Kuzmin - "Little Things" (Foxtrot): 8
20. AJ Odudu & Kai Widdrington - "Tears Dry On Their Own" (Foxtrot): 7.9
21. Tom Fletcher & Amy Dowden - "Iris" (Viennese Waltz): 7.88
22. Rose Ayling-Ellis & Giovanni Pernice - "Cinema Italiano" (Samba): 7.87
22. Rhys Stephenson & Nancy Xu - "What A Man Gotta Do" (Quickstep): 7.87
24. Tom Fletcher & Amy Dowden - "Watermelon Sugar" (Salsa): 7.8
24. Tilly Ramsey & Nikita Kuzmin - "Spooky Movies" (Cha-Cha): 7.8
24. Tilly Ramsey & Nikita Kuzmin - "Yes Sir, That's My Baby" (Charleston): 7.8
27. John Whaite & Johannes Radebe - "Starstruck" (Cha-Cha): 7.7
27. Rhys Stephenson & Nancy Xu - "The Eve of the War" (Paso Doble): 7.7
29. Tilly Ramsey & Nikita Kuzmin - "I Won't Dance" (Quickstep): 7.55
30. Rhys Stephenson & Nancy Xu - "Spider-Man" (Street/Commercial): 7.44
31. Rhys Stephenson & Nancy Xu - "I've Got The World On a String" (American Smooth): 7.4
32. Sara Davies & Aljaž Škorjanec - "9 to 5" (Quickstep): 7.37
33. AJ Odudu & Kai Widdrington - "Game of Survival" (Paso Doble): 7.33
34. AJ Odudu & Kai Widdrington - "Don't Go Yet" (Samba): 7.3
35. Tom Fletcher & Amy Dowden - "Johnny B. Goode" (Jive): 7.22
36. John Whaite & Johannes Radebe - "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)" (American Smooth): 7.2
36. Rose Ayling-Ellis & Giovanni Pernice - "Raspberry Beret" (Cha-Cha): 7.2
38. Tom Fletcher & Amy Dowden - "Fly Me To The Moon" (Foxtrot): 7.1
39. John Whaite & Johannes Radebe - "Blue Monday" (Tango): 7.09
40. Rhys Stephenson & Nancy Xu - "Butter" (Salsa): 7
40. Tilly Ramsey & Nikita Kuzmin - "Kings & Queens" (Tango): 7
40. Tom Fletcher & Amy Dowden - "Highway to Hell" (Tango): 7
43. Adam Peaty & Katya Jones - "Beggin'" (Cha-Cha): 6.9
43. Judi Love & Graziano Di Prima - "Get Busy" (Samba): 6.9
43. Nina Wadia & Neil Jones - "Mi Gente" (Samba): 6.9
46. Rhys Stephenson & Nancy Xu - "End Of The Road" (Viennese Waltz): 6.81
47. Adam Peaty & Katya Jones - "Moonlight Sonata" (Viennese Waltz): 6.8
47. Robert Webb & Dianne Buswell - "La Cumparsita" (Tango): 6.8
47. Tilly Ramsey & Nikita Kuzmin - "Diablo Rojo" (Paso Doble): 6.8
50. Ugo Monye & Oti Mabuse - "You're Welcome" (Jazz): 6.77
51. Sara Davies & Aljaž Škorjanec - "No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)" (Argentine Tango): 6.66
52. Adam Peaty & Katya Jones - "Little Bitty Pretty One" (Jive): 6.62
53. Katie McGlynn & Gorka Marquez - "Black Hole" (Tango): 6.54
54. Adam Peaty & Katya Jones - "Tango in the Night" (Argentine Tango): 6.5
54. Rhys Stephenson & Nancy Xu - "Reach Out I'll Be There" (Cha-Cha): 6.5
54. Rose Ayling-Ellis & Giovanni Pernice - "Cuba" (Salsa): 6.5
57. Dan Walker & Nadiya Bychkova - "King of the Road" (American Smooth): 6.33
58. Dan Walker & Nadiya Bychkova - "Rock Lobster" (Jive): 6.2
58. Dan Walker & Nadiya Bychkova - "She's Always a Woman" (Viennese Waltz): 6.2
58. Judi Love & Graziano Di Prima - "Hero" (Waltz): 6.2
58. Sara Davies & Aljaž Škorjanec - "You're Still The One" (Rumba): 6.2
62. Dan Walker & Nadiya Bychkova - "Giant" (Paso Doble): 6.1
62. Ugo Monye & Oti Mabuse - "Bring Me Sunshine" (Quickstep): 6.1
64. Judi Love & Graziano Di Prima - "Chain of Fools" (American Smooth): 6.09
64. Rose Ayling-Ellis & Giovanni Pernice - "Shake It Off" (Jive): 6.09
66. Katie McGlynn & Gorka Marquez - "Cruella De Vil" (American Smooth): 6
66. Sara Davies & Aljaž Škorjanec - "Best Years of Our Lives" (Samba): 6
68. Dan Walker & Nadiya Bychkova - "Classic" (Street/Commercial): 5.87
69. Adam Peaty & Katya Jones - "Are You Gonna Be My Girl" (Quickstep): 5.8
69. Adam Peaty & Katya Jones - "Faith" (Samba): 5.8
71. Tilly Ramsey & Nikita Kuzmin - "The Nicest Kids in Town" (Jive): 5.77
72. Dan Walker & Nadiya Bychkova - "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love" (Quickstep): 5.72
73. Judi Love & Graziano Di Prima - "Physical" (Cha-Cha): 5.7
74. Robert Webb & Dianne Buswell - "The Muppet Show Theme" (Quickstep): 5.66
75. Tilly Ramsey & Nikita Kuzmin - "Consequences" (Waltz): 5.54
76. Tom Fletcher & Amy Dowden - "September" (Cha-Cha): 5.45
77. Greg Wise & Karen Hauer - "James Bond Theme" (Paso Doble): 5.44
78. Nina Wadia & Neil Jones - "Would I Lie To You?" (Tango): 5.4
79. Greg Wise & Karen Hauer - "That's Life" (American Smooth): 5.36
80. Dan Walker & Nadiya Bychkova - "U Can't Touch This" / "Super Freak" (Cha-Cha): 5.3
81. Katie McGlynn & Gorka Marquez - "good 4 u" (Jive): 5.2
82. Ugo Monye & Oti Mabuse - "Iko Iko (My Bestie)" (Samba): 5.18
83. Judi Love & Graziano Di Prima - "When You're Good to Mama" (Charleston): 5.11
84. Greg Wise & Karen Hauer - "If You Could Read My Mind" (Disco): 5.1
84. Sara Davies & Aljaž Škorjanec - "Queen of the Night" (Paso Doble/Ballroom Fusion): 5.1
84. Ugo Monye & Oti Mabuse - "Leave The Door Open" (Rumba): 5.1
87. Robert Webb & Dianne Buswell - "Rasputin" (Cha-Cha): 5
88. Adam Peaty & Katya Jones - "I See You" (Rumba): 4.77
89. Sara Davies & Aljaž Škorjanec - "The Boss" (Cha-Cha): 4.36
90. Dan Walker & Nadiya Bychkova - "Once Upon a Dream" (Foxtrot): 4.33
91. Greg Wise & Karen Hauer - "Macarena" (Samba): 4.3
Overall Couples Points & Averages:
1. AJ Odudu & Kai Widdrington - 68.93 / 8.61 (=)
2. John Whaite & Johannes Radebe - 67.1 / 8.38 (=)
3. Rose Ayling-Ellis & Giovanni Pernice - 65.72 / 8.21 (=)
4. Rhys Stephenson & Nancy Xu - 60.27 / 7.53 (=)
5. Tom Fletcher & Amy Dowden - 51.07 / 7.29 (=)
6. Tilly Ramsey & Nikita Kuzmin - 56.26 / 7.03 (=)
7. Sara Davies & Aljaž Škorjanec - 52.59 / 6.57 (=)
8. Adam Peaty & Katya Jones - 43.19 / 6.17 (=)
9. Nina Wadia & Neil Jones - 12.3 / 6.15 (=)
10. Judi Love & Graziano Di Prima - 30 / 6 (=)
11. Katie McGlynn & Gorka Marquez - 17.74 / 5.91 (=)
12. Robert Webb & Dianne Buswell - 17.46 / 5.82 (=)
13. Ugo Monye & Oti Mabuse - 23.15 / 5.78 (=)
14. Dan Walker & Nadiya Bychkova - 46.05 / 5.75 (=)
15. Greg Wise & Karen Hauer - 20.2 / 5.05 (=)
BY STYLES:
AMERICAN SMOOTH:
1. AJ Odudu & Kai Widdrington - "I Have Nothing" (American Smooth): 8.88
2. Rhys Stephenson & Nancy Xu - "I've Got The World On a String" (American Smooth): 7.4
3. John Whaite & Johannes Radebe - "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)" (American Smooth): 7.2
4. Dan Walker & Nadiya Bychkova - "King of the Road" (American Smooth): 6.33
5. Judi Love & Graziano Di Prima - "Chain of Fools" (American Smooth): 6.09
6. Katie McGlynn & Gorka Marquez - "Cruella De Vil" (American Smooth): 6
7. Greg Wise & Karen Hauer - "That's Life" (American Smooth): 5.36
ARGENTINE TANGO:
2. Sara Davies & Aljaž Škorjanec - "No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)" (Argentine Tango): 6.66
3. Adam Peaty & Katya Jones - "Tango in the Night" (Argentine Tango): 6.5
CHA-CHA:
1. Tilly Ramsey & Nikita Kuzmin - "Spooky Movies" (Cha-Cha): 7.8
2. John Whaite & Johannes Radebe - "Starstruck" (Cha-Cha): 7.7
3. Rose Ayling-Ellis & Giovanni Pernice - "Raspberry Beret" (Cha-Cha): 7.2
4. Adam Peaty & Katya Jones - "Beggin'" (Cha-Cha): 6.9
5. Rhys Stephenson & Nancy Xu - "Reach Out I'll Be There" (Cha-Cha): 6.5
6. Judi Love & Graziano Di Prima - "Physical" (Cha-Cha): 5.7
7. Tom Fletcher & Amy Dowden - "September" (Cha-Cha): 5.45
8. Dan Walker & Nadiya Bychkova - "U Can't Touch This" / "Super Freak" (Cha-Cha): 5.3
9. Robert Webb & Dianne Buswell - "Rasputin" (Cha-Cha): 5
4. Tilly Ramsey & Nikita Kuzmin - "Yes Sir, That's My Baby" (Charleston): 7.8
5. Judi Love & Graziano Di Prima - "When You're Good to Mama" (Charleston): 5.11
COUPLE'S CHOICE:
2. Rhys Stephenson & Nancy Xu - "Spider-Man" (Street/Commercial): 7.44
3. Ugo Monye & Oti Mabuse - "You're Welcome" (Jazz): 6.77
4. Dan Walker & Nadiya Bychkova - "Classic" (Street/Commercial): 5.87
5. Greg Wise & Karen Hauer - "If You Could Read My Mind" (Disco): 5.1
5. Sara Davies & Aljaž Škorjanec - "Queen of the Night" (Paso Doble/Ballroom Fusion): 5.1
FOXTROT:
1. Rose Ayling-Ellis & Giovanni Pernice - "Rose's Theme" (Foxtrot): 8.88
2. Sara Davies & Aljaž Škorjanec "Dream a Little Dream of Me" (Foxtrot): 8.2
3. Tilly Ramsey & Nikita Kuzmin - "Little Things" (Foxtrot): 8
4. AJ Odudu & Kai Widdrington - "Tears Dry On Their Own" (Foxtrot): 7.9
5. Tom Fletcher & Amy Dowden - "Fly Me To The Moon" (Foxtrot): 7.1
6. Dan Walker & Nadiya Bychkova - "Once Upon a Dream" (Foxtrot): 4.33
JIVE:
1. AJ Odudu & Kai Widdrington - "Gold Dust" (Jive): 8.72
2. Tom Fletcher & Amy Dowden - "Johnny B. Goode" (Jive): 7.22
3. Adam Peaty & Katya Jones - "Little Bitty Pretty One" (Jive): 6.62
4. Dan Walker & Nadiya Bychkova - "Rock Lobster" (Jive): 6.2
5. Rose Ayling-Ellis & Giovanni Pernice - "Shake It Off" (Jive): 6.09
6. Tilly Ramsey & Nikita Kuzmin - "The Nicest Kids in Town" (Jive): 5.77
7. Katie McGlynn & Gorka Marquez - "good 4 u" (Jive): 5.2
PASO DOBLE:
2. Tom Fletcher & Amy Dowden - "Amparito Roca" (Paso Doble): 8.62
3. Rhys Stephenson & Nancy Xu - "The Eve of the War" (Paso Doble): 7.7
4. AJ Odudu & Kai Widdrington - "Game of Survival" (Paso Doble): 7.33
5. Tilly Ramsey & Nikita Kuzmin - "Diablo Rojo" (Paso Doble): 6.8
6. Dan Walker & Nadiya Bychkova - "Giant" (Paso Doble): 6.1
7. Greg Wise & Karen Hauer - "James Bond Theme" (Paso Doble): 5.44
RUMBA:
1. John Whaite & Johannes Radebe - "Shape of My Heart" (Rumba): 8.87
2. Sara Davies & Aljaž Škorjanec - "You're Still The One" (Rumba): 6.2
3. Ugo Monye & Oti Mabuse - "Leave The Door Open" (Rumba): 5.1
4. Adam Peaty & Katya Jones - "I See You" (Rumba): 4.77
QUICKSTEP:
1. John Whaite & Johannes Radebe - "Bad Moon Rising" (Quickstep): 8.2
2. Rhys Stephenson & Nancy Xu - "What A Man Gotta Do" (Quickstep): 7.87
3. Tilly Ramsey & Nikita Kuzmin - "I Won't Dance" (Quickstep): 7.55
4. Sara Davies & Aljaž Škorjanec - "9 to 5" (Quickstep): 7.37
5. Ugo Monye & Oti Mabuse - "Bring Me Sunshine" (Quickstep): 6.1
6. Adam Peaty & Katya Jones - "Are You Gonna Be My Girl" (Quickstep): 5.8
7. Dan Walker & Nadiya Bychkova - "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love" (Quickstep): 5.72
8. Robert Webb & Dianne Buswell - "The Muppet Show Theme" (Quickstep): 5.66
1. Tom Fletcher & Amy Dowden - "Watermelon Sugar" (Salsa): 7.8
2. Rhys Stephenson & Nancy Xu - "Butter" (Salsa): 7
3. Rose Ayling-Ellis & Giovanni Pernice - "Cuba" (Salsa): 6.5
SAMBA:
2. Rose Ayling-Ellis & Giovanni Pernice - "Cinema Italiano" (Samba): 7.87
3. AJ Odudu & Kai Widdrington - "Don't Go Yet" (Samba): 7.3
4. Judi Love & Graziano Di Prima - "Get Busy" (Samba): 6.9
4. Nina Wadia & Neil Jones - "Mi Gente" (Samba): 6.9
6. Sara Davies & Aljaž Škorjanec - "Best Years of Our Lives" (Samba): 6
7. Adam Peaty & Katya Jones - "Faith" (Samba): 5.8
8. Ugo Monye & Oti Mabuse - "Iko Iko (My Bestie)" (Samba): 5.18
9. Greg Wise & Karen Hauer - "Macarena" (Samba): 4.3
TANGO:
2. Sara Davies & Aljaž Škorjanec - "Por Una Cabeza" (Tango): 8.7
3. John Whaite & Johannes Radebe - "Blue Monday" (Tango): 7.09
4. Tilly Ramsey & Nikita Kuzmin - "Kings & Queens" (Tango): 7
4. Tom Fletcher & Amy Dowden - "Highway to Hell" (Tango): 7
6. Robert Webb & Dianne Buswell - "La Cumparsita" (Tango): 6.8
7. Katie McGlynn & Gorka Marquez - "Black Hole" (Tango): 6.54
8. Nina Wadia & Neil Jones - "Would I Lie To You?" (Tango): 5.4
VIENNESE WALTZ:
3. Tom Fletcher & Amy Dowden - "Iris" (Viennese Waltz): 7.88
4. Rhys Stephenson & Nancy Xu - "End Of The Road" (Viennese Waltz): 6.81
5. Adam Peaty & Katya Jones - "Moonlight Sonata" (Viennese Waltz): 6.8
6. Dan Walker & Nadiya Bychkova - "She's Always a Woman" (Viennese Waltz): 6.2
WALTZ:
1. Judi Love & Graziano Di Prima - "Hero" (Waltz): 6.2
2. Tilly Ramsey & Nikita Kuzmin - "Consequences" (Waltz): 5.54
Now, it is our time to rate the routines! Please vote fairly and honestly solely on the dance performed (with no outside of the dance feelings interfering). Voting will be open for a full week and will close after next week's show.
AJ Odudu & Kai Widdrington - "Edelweiss" (Waltz):
Rhys Stephenson & Nancy Xu - "Footloose" (Jive):
Tom Fletcher & Amy Dowden - "On My Own" (Couple's Choice):
Rose Ayling-Ellis & Giovanni Pernice - "Love Is An Open Door" (Quickstep):
John Whaite & Johannes Radebe - "Chim Chim Cher-ee" (Viennese Waltz):
Tilly Ramsey & Nikita Kuzmin - "Revolting Children" (Couple's Choice):
Dan Walker & Nadiya Bychkova - "Good Morning" (Charleston):
AJ Odudu & Kai Widdrington - "Edelweiss" (Waltz): 10
Rhys Stephenson & Nancy Xu - "Footloose" (Jive): 7
Tom Fletcher & Amy Dowden - "On My Own" (Couple's Choice): 6
Rose Ayling-Ellis & Giovanni Pernice - "Love Is An Open Door" (Quickstep): 9
John Whaite & Johannes Radebe - "Chim Chim Cher-ee" (Viennese Waltz): 7
Tilly Ramsey & Nikita Kuzmin - "Revolting Children" (Couple's Choice): 8
Dan Walker & Nadiya Bychkova - "Good Morning" (Charleston): 7
ungodlyhour
they/them
Performances Ranked by Standard Deviation / Standard Error (most polarizing to least polarizing)
1. Tilly & Nikita: 0.73 / 0.24
=2. Dan & Nadiya: 0.71 / 0.24
=2. Sara & Aljaž: 0.71 / 0.24
4. Rhys & Nancy: 0.53 / 0.18
5. AJ & Kai: 0.50 / 0.17
6. John & Johannes: 0.44 / 0.15
=7. Rose & Giovanni: 0.33 / 0.11
=7. Tom & Amy: 0.33 / 0.11
Adjusted Score Ranges ([IDF's Score Out of 10 ± Standard Error] * 4)
1. Rose & Giovanni: 39.1 to 40.0
2. Rhys & Nancy: 37.5 to 38.9
3. John & Johannes: 36.3 to 37.5
4. Tom & Amy: 31.1 to 32.0
5. Tilly & Nikita: 29.3 to 31.2
6. AJ & Kai: 28.7 to 30.0
7. Sara & Aljaž: 25.7 to 27.6
8. Dan & Nadiya: 24.4 to 26.3
ILuvCarrie4eva
Jason Derülo's pantz
Tom Fletcher & Amy Dowden - "On My Own" (Couple's Choice): 10
*Chris
Blend Artists
NB, Canada
8 votes in now! There is less than a full day left to vote for those who haven't voted yet. Tagging those who haven't voted yet:
@*Lily @rpryor03 @lhdang2000 @*Amanda
And of course anyone else who hasn't voted can vote if they want to.
Going to close the voting now. 9 votes! Thanks to everyone who voted this week. Will do the calculations and post this week's form shortly!
IDF Rates Strictly Come Dancing Series 19 Routines (Week 9)
1. AJ Odudu & Kai Widdrington - "Edelweiss" (Waltz): 90 / 10
2. Rose Ayling-Ellis & Giovanni Pernice - "Love Is An Open Door" (Quickstep): 80 / 8.88
3. Tilly Ramsey & Nikita Kuzmin - "Revolting Children" (Street/Commercial): 75 / 8.33
4. John Whaite & Johannes Radebe - "Chim Chim Cher-ee" (Viennese Waltz): 71 / 7.88
4. Rhys Stephenson & Nancy Xu - "Footloose" (Jive): 71 / 7.88
6. Tom Fletcher & Amy Dowden - "On My Own" (Contemporary): 69 / 7.66
7. Dan Walker & Nadiya Bychkova - "Good Morning" (Charleston): 63 / 7
1. AJ Odudu & Kai Widdrington - "Edelweiss" (Waltz): 40 (=)
2. Rose Ayling-Ellis & Giovanni Pernice - "Love Is An Open Door" (Quickstep): 36 (-1)
3. Tilly Ramsey & Nikita Kuzmin - "Revolting Children" (Street/Commercial): 33 (-7)
4. John Whaite & Johannes Radebe - "Chim Chim Cher-ee" (Viennese Waltz): 32 (=)
4. Rhys Stephenson & Nancy Xu - "Footloose" (Jive): 32 (=)
6. Tom Fletcher & Amy Dowden - "On My Own" (Contemporary): 31 (=)
7. Dan Walker & Nadiya Bychkova - "Good Morning" (Charleston): 28 (-3)
1. AJ Odudu & Kai Widdrington - "Edelweiss" (Waltz): 10
10. John Whaite & Johannes Radebe - "Acuyuyé" (Samba): 9.22
10. John Whaite & Johannes Radebe - "He's a Pirate" (Paso Doble): 9.22
12. Rose Ayling-Ellis & Giovanni Pernice - "Love Is An Open Door" (Quickstep): 8.88
19. Tilly Ramsey & Nikita Kuzmin - "Revolting Children" (Street/Commercial): 8.33
24. John Whaite & Johannes Radebe - "Chim Chim Cher-ee" (Viennese Waltz): 7.88
24. Rhys Stephenson & Nancy Xu - "Footloose" (Jive): 7.88
34. Tom Fletcher & Amy Dowden - "On My Own" (Contemporary): 7.66
46. Dan Walker & Nadiya Bychkova - "Good Morning" (Charleston): 7
2. John Whaite & Johannes Radebe - 74.98 / 8.33 (=)
3. Rose Ayling-Ellis & Giovanni Pernice - 74.6 / 8.28 (=)
12. Dan Walker & Nadiya Bychkova - 53.05 / 5.89 (+2)
13. Robert Webb & Dianne Buswell - 17.46 / 5.82 (-1)
14. Ugo Monye & Oti Mabuse - 23.15 / 5.78 (-1)
5. Dan Walker & Nadiya Bychkova - "Good Morning" (Charleston): 7
2. Tilly Ramsey & Nikita Kuzmin - "Revolting Children" (Street/Commercial): 8.33
3. Tom Fletcher & Amy Dowden - "On My Own" (Contemporary): 7.66
2. Rhys Stephenson & Nancy Xu - "Footloose" (Jive): 7.88
1. Rose Ayling-Ellis & Giovanni Pernice - "Love Is An Open Door" (Quickstep): 8.88
3. John Whaite & Johannes Radebe - "Chim Chim Cher-ee" (Viennese Waltz): 7.88
Rose Ayling-Ellis & Giovanni Pernice - "California Dreamin'" (Paso Doble):
Dan Walker & Nadiya Bychkova - "Desperado" (Rumba):
AJ Odudu & Kai Widdrington - "Make Me Feel" (Commercial/Jazz):
Rhys Stephenson & Nancy Xu - "You Light Up My Life" (Waltz):
Tilly Ramsey & Nikita Kuzmin - "Levitating" (Samba):
John Whaite & Johannes Radebe - "The 5th" (Argentine Tango):
Rose Ayling-Ellis & Giovanni Pernice - "California Dreamin'" (Paso Doble): 8
Dan Walker & Nadiya Bychkova - "Desperado" (Rumba): 6
AJ Odudu & Kai Widdrington - "Make Me Feel" (Commercial/Jazz): 10
Rhys Stephenson & Nancy Xu - "You Light Up My Life" (Waltz): 8
Tilly Ramsey & Nikita Kuzmin - "Levitating" (Samba): 7
John Whaite & Johannes Radebe - "The 5th" (Argentine Tango): 10
John Whaite & Johannes Radebe - "The 5th" (Argentine Tango): 9
AJ Odudu & Kai Widdrington - "Make Me Feel" (Commercial/Jazz): 9