Category Archives: #art

At the Ballet with God

My lovely wife left travelled yesterday to visit a loved one who is faced with a medical condition unforeseen just a few days ago. I’m glad she could make the trip home.

We had purchased tickets several weeks ago for tonight’s ballet, and we could not return them for a refund. I really wanted to go, but I did not know who to ask, so tonight as the time for the ballet approached I just kind of gave it up to God and asked for guidance.

I was open to anything … give both tickets away, sell one ticket, sell both tickets, give one ticket away, whatever. I left about an hour early and listened in my spirit for any prompting from God … driving slowly down the street looking for just the right two people … walking on the sidewalk near the theater looking for a kindly older lady who might enjoy a good show … finally, standing outside the theater ticket office asking anyone who approached if they might need a ticket.

I did feel a bit awkward about asking just any individual, after all they would be sitting beside me. That’s why I was kind looking for an older lady, perhaps a widow on a fixed income, I wanted to be able to bless someone like that. Besides, I was very close to both my Grandmothers up until the time they passed away, and I seem to enjoy very good relationships with the elderly.

In the end, I carried the extra ticket in with me and sat beside an empty seat.

I felt a little irresponsible for wasting the ticket, I thought to myself that I should have started sooner to find a solution. But I always try to turn lemons into lemonade, and so as I sat there waiting for the show to begin I contemplated how to put a positive spin on the situation. The elderly lady on the other side of the seat would have more elbow room. The short lady sitting behind the seat would enjoy a totally unobstructed view. And, I imagined that I was at the ballet with God … that this was God’s will for us this evening.

Wow, am I ever glad that God allowed me to see the show – those ballerinas and ballerinos were amazing! Graceful, strong, incredible athletes … spinning, twisting, and dancing … sinewy marvels of choreography.

If I tried to raise my leg once only 30% as high as they raise theirs seemingly every other step, I would be in physical therapy for months.

And the toe walking – ouch!

What made it even more fun for me is that it was the Innovations performance, an exercise in contemporary ballet forms. How would you like a little rock or funk with your pirouette?

Black

Black.

We can’t see anything, it’s black. We don’t feel anything, it’s black.

Barren. Empty. Remote. Dark. Lonesome. Excluded. Cold. Fragmented. Colorless.

Black is black is black is black.

There’s no substance, no life, no feeling, no light. We can scream and no one hears, cry and no one cares, grasp and not feel anyone.

And we can’t expect the light to come to us. Or can we?

No one can steal what is in the heart and mind, no one can touch the inner self … unless we let them. No one, save God.

Will the light come to us? Can we manufacture light? Can we fashion hope? Can we create love?

Light is light, and black is black.

Light.