Dance Recitals Need Disclaimers

Let it be noted that I believe human lives would be much safer if it was required that every dance recital begin with the following disclaimer:

Please, do not try what you are about to see at home.  Ever.  These children may look like regular 5 year olds in tutus, but they are actually highly trained professionals.

I realized the dangers of dance two years ago when I got the crazy notion that I would try to teach myself "contemporary dance."  For those of you who have never had the joy of experiencing this art form, imagine a choreographed interpretive dance that blends mime work with ballet.  My lack of training in ANY of these areas meant I was off to a rough start.  The YouTube tutorial I found ended up with me simply trying to imitate the dancer's movements, having never been taught what she was actually doing.

The result: flailing limbs set to music and a handful of bizarre injuries.  As well as a considerable hip bruise, I pulled a muscle in my leg in a way that caused it to randomly give while I was walking.  Because I had no training in the techniques of the art form, I had to work twice as hard to get only a fraction of the result.  Pantomiming dance in my basement was a dangerous and time consuming hobby, and one I was soon forced to stop.

Injury without results is often the outcome of pantomiming in all areas of life.  This includes, perhaps even applies especially to, our relationship with God.  Often it is easier to go through the motions or pretend we feel close to the Lord than to face the truth that we aren't hearing His voice or feel that He has forgotten us.  

How often do we play the faithful followers in church, just to avoid admitting we are the struggling sinners?  When was the last time we stopped talking at God long enough to hear what He has to say to us?  Prayer, communion, bible studies... are these fruitful times in which we are actually worshiping and growing closer to our Creator, or are they obligations and resume polishers, a simple check in the box of faith.

Do we have a relationship with God, or are we just trying to act out what we think it would like to follow Him?

Going back and learning the basics of dance would have been a lot less glorious than the finished products I saw on YouTube, but it certainly would have put me a lot closer to an actual, non-injury-inducing result.  Admitting we don't know the sound of God's voice may make us feel like failures, but it means we are silencing the mock voices we have created long enough to hear the Truth.  When we stop pantomiming our faith, it may feel like giving up, but it actually may give us the energy and time to begin building a true relationship with God.

Like athletes, we must train and practice before we can become MVP's.  As Paul put it, "All athletes are disciplined in their training.  They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize.  So I run with purpose in ever step.  I am not just shadowboxing" (1 Corinthians 9:25-26).

So next time you are tempted to have a one-man dance recital in your basement, don't.  And next time you find yourself going through the motions, stop.  The prize is to valuable to waste our time shadowboxing.  The beginning is always a very humble place to start, but it is only from the beginning that we can reach a destination worth working for.

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