Star-bound Celebrity or Servant-Celebrant Artist?

“And the day came when I dared to ask Him what He desired from the gift He gave me of dancing.”

 I’ve been active in the vocational calling of dance for over four decades.

During these many years of counting to eight, pointing and flexing, bending and rising, jumping and falling; I’ve experienced the full range of the sweet, yet also the bitter, the beautiful and the broken, and the ecstasy and the endangerments of the multi-characteristics of this ever shifting art form of dance.

I have looked at the cloud of dance from many sides now, serving this craft as dancer, teacher, choreographer, and artistic director. And did I mention my non-scholastic and my mobilized-volunteer by default accolades of being on duty as psychotherapist, surgeon, nutritionalist, chaplain, and sometimes wannabe exorcist for those dancers with issues and the mountains of tissues nasally tainted with their sob stories?

The life of artistry is always creatively and chaotically colored with whirling, twirling, and intimate emotion. For the artist, “All the world is a stage”, and after the show, the stage must be mopped! 

I am also a former molded product of that wild and fabulous era of the 1980’s. Indeed, I was born to entertain you; giving my best of the old razzle-dazzle “It’s Showtime Folks!” gloss and glitter, regarded by every true JazzMan as the essential modus operandi –(complete with jazz hands, gel pasted punk cut, and a glistening set of pearly whites). And I basked in the light-fandango of my miracle mantra while blasting its theme song on my 8-track player:  

“Fame! I’m gonna live forever. I’m gonna learn how to fly high.

I feel it coming together, people will see me and cry.

Fame! I’m gonna make it to heaven, light up the sky like a flame. 

Fame! I’m gonna live forever. Baby, remember my name.”

Well, although it did reek a little with the scent of overly perfumed self-indulgence; my fame and fortune seeking goals seemed quite well intentioned in my own standard of character evaluation.

However, it was during this unruly season of star-bound dreams that my life was divinely and unexpectedly interrupted.

I believe that all of us, at some point of our lives, will experience at least one God moment of holy intrusion. In August of 1981, I had mine! It was an unexpected excursion that led me through the portals of a local church in Houston, Texas. To my utmost intrigue, I realized there would be no mass, no formalized service or homily, no sermonizing or threats of hell, fire, and brimstone.

What I encountered was a film; a true story of suffering, yet a revelation of a sure-anchored and undeniable faith. The film was called JONI. Up until that day, I had never heard of this film before:

“When I was only seventeen, I took a reckless dive into shallow water – it was a fateful dive that completely altered my life. At first, when doctors told me I would be a quadriplegic, I sank into a deep depression. Thankfully, Christian friends were praying for me and, eventually, I began to take a closer look at the Bible to see what exactly God had to say about my circumstances. I learned that the God of the Bible is perfectly and eternally sovereign. He does not occupy the throne one day and vacate it the next. He is supremely in charge, often for purposes we cannot understand this side of eternity.” - Joni Eareckson Tara 

Needless to say, this story of sovereign grace and redemption completely wrecked me and transformationally rocked my world of broken pursuits and longing lostness. That day became my God-marked day for time and eternity. While attentively hinging on ever word of this faith revealing film, I sensed the loving presence of Jesus Christ calling me into His embrace. On that day, I asked Jesus to save me from myself and become Lord of my life. 

AND THEN….the Lordship and generative grace of Jesus reset my pathway.

I knew He was asking me to live and to dance for His glory and honor.

He chose me to be among those who know Him and seek to make His love, grace, and salvation known. He was calling me to do this through shining His Light through my life and in the sphere of my art form. His Holy Spirit became my teacher, counselor, helper, and guide. This truth of scripture spoke deeply to my heart:

“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.” - I Corinthians 6:19-20

And the day came when I dared to ask Him what He desired from the gift He gave me of dancing.

This is what He spoke in reply:

“When Jesus had washed their feet and put on His outer garments, He reclined with them again and asked, “Do you know what I have done for you? You call Me Teacher and Lord, and rightly so, because I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example so that you should do as I have done for you. Truly, truly, I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.” - John 13:12

Yes, He asked of me to become His servant-artist son, taking my towel of dance and washing over the soiled, bruised and broken feet of lost and hurting humanity.

He asked me to follow His lead in this manner, serving in relevant and redemptive ways through my artistry. He told me that I was to give a crown of beauty instead of ashes and pour forth a sacred balm of healing oil over all of affected humanity.

He called me from a bent desire for celebrity and chose me to be a celebrant of His transcendent communion for the world. I learned that the English word “celebrity” comes from the Latin “celebrare’” - A person who officiates at a religious ceremony, especially the serving of  the Eucharist, inviting all to the plentiful table of the Lord.

A celebrity longs to be acknowledged, adored, and to be served by their public. A celebrant acts as a humble servant of grace, desiring only to see the glory and beauty of the Lord revealed. A celebrant’s life and the workmanship of their gifts becomes a window of revelation. Their offerings are a portal of promise, opening pathways to engage the extravagance of God’s holy love. 

And Here Is The Calling and Commission of The Artists of God… 

“Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you. For behold, darkness covers the earth, and thick darkness is over the peoples; but the LORD will rise upon you, and His glory will appear over you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.” - Isaiah 60:1-3

My dear artist friends, may this become the worthy goal of our lives and creativity. May we share the story of redemption with the masses of those lost in darkness. May we be the servant-artist children of The Living God, declaring His beauty and glory to the nations.