The Dance of the Ripple Effect

     We all know Steve Urkel's famous line said in his nasally obnoxious voice, "Did I do that?" It would come on the heels of him making a huge bumble and everyone would be left with correcting the bumble he had just made. The 30-minute sitcom made fixing his mistakes seem simple compared to real life quandaries.

     Urkel was a natural born bumbler. We are all a natural born something or other. Since this a dance blog let's assume we are all natural at dance. Some forms of dance may be more of a challenge than others but rhythm, movement, timing, all just happen for us.

     We are not natural born Christians, we had to choose to be a Christian. It was a decision. We are products of our decisions.

 "I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both you and your seed may live." Deuteronomy 30:19

     You can be a Christian and still make wrong decisions. God will allow it, especially if you're determined to go ahead with it, or clueless that you shouldn't go on with it. See, the idea behind becoming a Christian (besides going to Heaven) is to become a better decision maker because now you have the "mind of Christ" according to I Corinthians 2:16 to aid you when you are clueless.

     You've taken and studied dance and the various forms of dance because you didn't want to be ignorant concerning dance. You wanted to be better equipped for that audition or that piece. You wanted to dance smarter, not harder. 

     The choices you've made concerning dance has not only affected your world but those that are in your world with you...and their wallets, and what they do in their free time, or what weekends look like. Their lives are influenced by what you've decided.  

     Economists would use the term 'Cause and Effect'. I would say, what you've caused has caused an effect for many people other than yourself. Choices have a ripple effect. When you decide to marry, have children, what job you take, where you live, what hobbies you are in to, where you go to church, even who you study dance from. These choices of yours can end up being sources of strife and contention because the other affected by them will have to experience it right along you, whether they wish to or not.

     We've all said, "It's my life, I'll decide"... and you are correct. We've all had to make our own beds but the problem is you aren't the only one that has to lie in it. You wanting to go your own way costs others too, usually in time, money, or sorrow.

     In dance pieces, when performing a ripple, the movement travels from one dancer to the next. Ripples are a great visual move that creates a sorta "wow" response from the audience. The largest ripple I've ever been a part of would be a "wave" at a football stadium! The affect from that is a lot of laughter and shouts. 

     Ripples in real life are either positive or negative, very rarely do they end up with a 'neither nor' results. The whole concept of discipling is a ripple effect idea. Someone mentored me, someone mentored who mentored me, I mentor others, they mentor others and the echo continues hopefully to touch many along the way of raising up disciples of the dance. 

     If I was a teacher known to be harsh, rude, hard, critical, and never satisfied I might have my own TV show centering on those attributes. But when the cameras are packed up and the set lights are turned off and everyone goes home what has my being nasty done to the formable dancers that were put under my professional care? In their futures, yeah, they might be somewhat successful in their dance careers but was my choice to be Ursala The Sea Witch wise? And what mental and emotional torture would I have placed on these students? Would they end up anorexic? Too self-conscious? Fearful to audition? Too anxious to try? Too critical to self? Would they become man-pleasers? 

     What words were spoken to demean? What words would still ripple through their thoughts even years later? Would I cause then to feel the need to be highly competitive even to the cutthroat level? All of these things I could cause simply because I decided that was the way to teach and to get results from my dancers. 
I decided a longgggg time ago that I would love my students into submission and that I could get more out of them with honey instead of vinegar and fear was not a whip I wanted to use to get the best from them.

     As a Christian dancer, you will forever have to make choice upon choice each and every day.You have a Guide, a Counselor, a voice of Wisdom that can help you in picking the right way to go. His answer will always have something to do with does it bring life or does it bring about death. Will it cause a blessing or will it bring a curse? 

     You choose the effect. Others are affected. That's the ripple.