The Soul Train

Today, in RS, we had a wonderful lesson about the meaning of Christmas; namely Christ, giving, and spending time with loved ones, like family members. However, in the course of that lesson, I mentioned that my family sometimes enjoys doing soul trains. To my astonishment, a majority of the girls then proceeded to ask what a soul train is..I thought they were joking at first, but after seeing all the girls continue to look at me quizzically I realized they were not.

For their benefit, and for everyone else in this world who has missed out on the Soul Train, allow me to take this chance to educate you, so you can board the train as well! Soul Train was a show that originated in the 70's. For lack of a better example, it is a lot like the one showcased on the movie Hairspray, except more-well-soulful. Every week, they would feature the hottest artists [like the Jackson 5, Marvin Gaye, Elton John, etc], and often teach the audience a new dance. There would be two lines, and the people at the front of the line would dance through the middle to showcase, and then the next group would and so forth. Below is a clip of the show:

Now a days, soul trains are still a super fun thing to do, and can be seen often. For example, in the movie Hitch, which most of you have probably seen, there end in a soul train:

As I mentioned in RS, my family loves them. I think part of it was that my parents watched it in the 80's [while it was still going strong]. Then when I was a kid, my Mom's TV only got BET for a while, so apart from Bernie Mac and Living Single, she would watch Soul Train re-runs. This meant that whether it was the holidays, or we just wanted a piece of cookie dough, we had to participate in a family soul train or we weren't gettin any. It didn't matter if you were upset that your parents were making you do something this silly; by the end of it, you couldn't help but smile on the magnificent ride only a good soul train can bring. The best part was, EVERYONE had to participate, including your parents, aunts and uncles, bf's, or whoever was there. Over the years, we had so much fun doing it that I am planning on humiliating my kids sometimes so we can carry on the tradition and they can have the great memories I do.

As these pictures illustrate, dancing can be such a great release, whether your feeling happy, sad, mad, crazy or whatever it be. But regardless, a good soul train combines good family fun, and a lot of laughter and memories to be enjoyed. And who knows...maybe, if your lucky..someday you will get to see my dad illustrate how to do the superior dance in your next soul train! Peace out yo!