October - The Dance of Mimicry

     It's THAT time again...halloween. Sigh. People everywhere will be flocking to the stores to buy costumes, candy, and scary lawn decorations, all with innocent fun dancing in their heads.

     Everybody decides what they want to dress-up as, anything from the completely adorable to the extremely freakish. Some are detailed and elaborate and others are spontaneous ideas pulled together in an instant.

     Thoughts are towards what fall festival to go to, or where the Trunk or Treats are going to be, or if they're gonna visit the coolest haunt factories, and maybe throw in a hayride for good measure. Whatever it is, most are planning on having an evening of whimsy, laughs, and candy, with a little bit of clean frightful gore and screams.

     No one that I know takes this day as anything serious, just a day to dress-up and pretend, to mimic a character and take the normal out of their normal day with the teacher or boss's approval. The only problem with this simple approach to halloween (no capital H from me) is the severity of the spirit of fear that hides in waiting to disturb the secret fears in our thoughts.

     You may not care to, but you might just want to do a brief research on the roots and traditional beginnings of this day, I pray it pricks your heart, if it doesn't at the moment I pray Ephesians 1:17-23.
God did not author fear. He provides Scripture, the name of Jesus, the blood of Jesus, and the whole armor of God, to be the antidote to the fear you experience.

     In the dance class, instructors might give off the aire of intimidation. On the stage, the audience may make you shake in your slippers. A fellow student dancer may cause you to compare yourself with her. In the ministry of dance, the pastor or a board member might make you feel like your ministry has no place in the church or has no merit. You may feel unqualified because of your lack of organized training or you may think that the only real dancer is a toothpick sized one. All of this is how fear grips you and operates freely unchecked because you think you are chained to it and have no hope to shed its hold.

     Spook houses reenact scenes just like that...a poor ghost soul that can't find peace on earth so it has to continue in its sad state moaning for release from its chains of death. We see something like that and it scares us, we squeal and giggle with our friends, but in reality, we are bound to our fears everyday and think that there is no way of escaping them.

     I've witnessed dancers afraid of developing to a new level from where they are artistically, I've seen them afraid of new dance moves or combinations. Or afraid to audition for a part or present a piece of choreography concerned they would be rejected. I've even seen dancers "too shy" to answer questions in class or move to the front because of fear and also the ones that seem to be overbearing and loud but, in reality, are masking their self-esteem issues.

     The dance world is full of mimicry, a resemblance or copying the real world. Pretending to be swans, or dolls, or dancing toys, or life-sized nutcrackers. We re-tell the Nativity story, the Easter story, we even dance out Scripture. We are not real angels or real animals, we just play one onstage!

     Why do we need a day to pretend we are a creature or a ghoul or even a ballerina? People are intrigued with the art of story telling. Mimicry is a God notion. He created animals that mimic the real thing. We like that as people, as dancers.We feel connected to dancing out a story or a concept or a truth while wearing beautiful costuming to make the experience even more inspiring!

     God says that He has not handed out the spirit of fear, but of POWER, and of LOVE, and of A SOUND MIND (II Timothy 1:7)! Yet we costume up and carry around fear with us, masking it! Afraid of spiders,coffins, and secret fears of letting people get to know you or afraid to forgive someone. Fear is fear like a pig is a pig, no matter how pretty you dress it up. Even the traditional handing out candy and yelling "trick or treat" has its roots in fear. Look it up. 

     Fear consumes your thoughts and affects your decisions. Keeps you from sleep, causes you to eat antacids. It causes you to close into yourself and let no one in your self-built walls. It diminishes your dance and your purpose. It may take its toll and you walk away from dance completely. Yes, fear can do all of that BUT ONLY if you let it. You, Christian dancer have the right and authority to disallow its trauma. How do I know this? The Bible tells us to 'be not afraid' or to 'fear not' a bazillion times. It's not just filler words for the pages of the Bible, it is equipment for your use to get free from its hold on you.

     So, if you go through with this ritualistic dressing-up on halloween, check your heart status, are you purposely going to put yourself in a situation to be frightened, even if it's just for fun? Or maybe decide that you're gonna unmask fear and be you...the real you. Isn't that scary enough?

• October's Scripture Study: I John 4 (MB) Read the entire chapter daily.

•  Truth at the Barre: 

            Looking in the Word, seeing His reflection, steadying yourself at the Barre, for support and direction..."fear has torment"! Recognize that truth! Unmask it!

• Truth at the Center:

           Feet prepped in the Center to dance it out...let Love be your motivation to dance, to move, to be. Let Love banish your secret fears. Standing next to other dancers, remember, "loving God includes loving people. You've got to love both".

• Challenge at the Barre:

          "If anyone boasts, 'I love God,' and goes right on hating his brother or sister, thinking nothing of it, he is a liar." Let the fear of the unknown or the fear of what-ifs go. They are holding you back.

• Challenge at the Center:

           "If you won't love the person he can see, how can he love the God he can't see?" This includes loving your own self, dancer. Quit hating the way you look or execute something. Quit hating others and they way they do things. "Well-formed love banishes fear. Since fear is crippling"... that's something you can't afford. Injuries for a dancer are never good.

• Week 1: The Principle

           "God IS Love." If fear permeates your being, you do not have a full revelation of what God IS! He has no fear to give out. Where would He get it? He is the deliverer of all your fears. LOVE is His method. Pray for God to reveal to you hidden fears and insecurities. Because He loves you so much, He will  lovingly oblige.

• Week 2: The Corps

          "Our standing in the world is identical with Christ's. There is no room in Love for fear." As a company of dancers and the Body of Christ, we have a call to let fear out of our realm and activate the Spirit of Love, which is God The Father, Himself. Every member of the body is important, step out and be bold enough to say "no more fear", the crippling effect will reverse itself! Watch and see!

• Week 3: The Rehearsal

          Practice the deep, deep Love of Jesus. Think of ways to love on and encourage others in the body or ones thinking of joining us. Think of ways to give, to help. Physically "see" or use imagery to rehearse how you're going to affect someone else with the "God loves you" message.

• Week 4: The Performance

           Step out this week unmasked, the real you. Don't hide behind facades any longer. The thing you greatly feared, face it and rebuke its power on you. Love will be there every step of the way! Ready? And 5...6...7...8!