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Rev. Beverly Waring Sermon
January 8,2012
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January 8, 2011
On my refrigerator at home is a magnet that reads, “What if the Hokey Pokey Really IS What It’s All About?” I see that magnet every time
I go into the kitchen and open the refrigerator. Now, a normal person would either ignore the magnet, take it off the refrigerator, or simply
answer the question while pouring a glass of orange juice or grabbing an apple. But not a minister
There is a danger in being a minister. Everything, I mean everything, becomes a title or line or theme for a sermon. I can be listening to
public radio or reading a novel or watching a TV commercial and the next thing I know, I hear this voice say, “That would make a great
sermon title”…and then I am stuck with it. The voice rarely goes away for long, and sooner or later I have to write that sermon. So, it
should not come as a surprise to me that those words on that magnet became a sermon title this morning.
The other danger in becoming a minister is that a large part of your education involves exploring stories and texts for deeper and deeper
meaning, tearing apart small passages and phrases to get at what was really meant by the author. So, here I am this morning doing an
exegesis of what I thought was just a silly children’s song.
To exegete a text – by the way, this is usually done with Biblical passages - to exegete a text, first you explore the context -- where and
when and by whom was it written? It is often important to ask why did the author write this? What did he or she hope to accomplish?
What motivated this particular piece to be written at this time? Was it written for a particular audience or for the author him or herself?
So, this is the approach I took with the Hokey Pokey.
The first thing I discovered about the Hokey Pokey is that there is a dispute about who wrote it, when it was written and why. And there
are multiple theories about the very meaning of the words Hokey Pokey.
Some attribute it to a Shaker song which had similar lyrics. According to a book published in 1940 by Edward Deming Andrews called A
Gift to be Simple, this song was written in New Hampshire by two sisters from Canterbury in 1857. Other sources claim that similar lyrics
and dance steps date back to the 17th century.
One common theme found in many sources is that “hokey pokey” actually comes from “hocus pocus,” words commonly associated with
magic. And the derivation of hocus pocus as magic words is believed to come from a portion of the Catholic mass.
In the 17th century, the mass was offered in Latin and most of the people attending the mass not only did not understand Latin but were
illiterate. It is thought that the high point of the mass was misunderstood and misinterpreted by many. This is the point in a Catholic mass
when the priest would turn his back on the congregation, hold up the host (or communion wafer), and say “Hoc est corpus meum.” He
was quoting what the Bible tells us were Jesus’ words at the Last Supper, “This is my body.” At this moment, according to Catholic belief,
the wafer becomes the body of Christ.
So it is believed by some that the worshippers at this time who did not understand Latin and did not have a very sophisticated grasp of
metaphor, heard “hoc est corpus” as hocus pocus, the “magic words” that were spoken to change the wafer to the body of Christ. And
then from these words, hocus pocus, according to some, came the term “hokey pokey.”
It is possible then that this song, therefore, was actually originally conceived as a mocking by Puritans and others of the “magic”
performed by priests during what Catholics consider a sacred part of their worship service.
Having been raised Catholic, I admit that I found this history interesting and believable, but did it help me answer the question, “What if
the Hokey Pokey really is what it’s all about?” Well actually it did because if hokey pokey is a derivative of hocus pocus and the “dance”
was designed to be a parody or misunderstanding of the Catholic mass then, for me, the hokey pokey is NOT what it’s all about.
Because if magical words were what it is all about, what happens to personal responsibility, ethical behavior, justice, love, and natural
laws of science?
So, for me, this type of magic is not what it is all about. But if we look at magic from another viewpoint – not as literal magic but rather as
those mysteries of life, that which is beyond our understanding, - then maybe the hokey pokey could be what it is all about.
Think about the whole song. First we are invited to put our right hand in, then, take our right hand out. We put our right hand back in
and we shake it all about. We do the hokey pokey and turn ourselves around and that’s what it’s all about. Maybe the first question we
must answer is what is the “it” referred to in the question? What IT is it all about? If we do not accept the historical interpretation that it
refers to the Catholic mass then I could make the argument that later interpretations of the song, especially the Shaker version, could be
referring to personal religious practices or even spiritual life itself.
Think about the song again given its meaning in this context. We begin by putting various body parts in – testing the waters of spiritual
life - we take them out again, put them in and shake them all about. Maybe this shaking is a way of making sure we do not get too
comfortable, we do not become complacent in our lives. You do the Hokey Pokey – accept the mystery, allow for some things to be
unanswerable right now and turn yourself around. Turn yourself around is an interesting part of the song to exegete.
To “turn around” comes from the Latin word, meaning to convert. So if you turn yourself around, you are standing in the same place but
you are seeing things from a different perspective, you have a different view of things. So to “convert,” turning yourself around, suggests
you have not become a different person, you just see things differently.
In Seminary, I took a course in Process Theology. Now, I could not possibly explain Process Theology in a few sentences but here is what
is relevant to this conversation this morning. In Process Theology, it is believed that everything is in process all the time. This includes
our understanding of life and God and the universe. It is believed by process theologians that God is everywhere, in all of us, and
around all of us, and a part of all things. Further it is believed that every interaction, every relationship we have changes us, changes the
other in the interaction and changes God. These changes can be large or small, they can be noticeable or transparent.
Now think again about the Hokey Pokey. You put your left foot in, and you take it out. You put it back in and shake it all about.
Interactions are occurring here. Change is occurring here. You do the hokey pokey (allowing mystery and magic into the mix), and turn
yourself around (change has happened and you see things differently, you are different in this moment) and that’s what it’s all about.
From a humanist perspective, the culmination of the song is very important. You have tested the waters with your hands, your feet, and
so on and then, you put your whole self in. You commit your whole self to the process. You allow yourself to become fully engaged in
living, in a spiritual life. You do the hokey pokey – you are not doing magic, you are allowing magic to happen to you – you are embracing
the mysteries of life yet to be uncovered, yet to be explained.
You try things out, committing a little of yourself at a time until you are ready to be totally committed. You shake yourself up, turn yourself
around – invite change through your actions, through your interactions and you are transformed.
So yes, I say. The Hokey Pokey IS what it’s all about. It’s all about commitment and action and living a spiritual life to create change. It is
about doing what we can, trying it out until we are ready to commit fully. It is about viewing our world from different perspectives and
allowing the magic to happen. It is about embracing the mystery. It is about changing yourself and the world – a little at a time – in small
and big ways. It really is all about the Hokey Pokey.
Amen and Blessed Be
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What if the Hokey Pokey Really is What It’s All About
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