The Perfect “Spot”

I am a dance fan!  I enjoy all kinds and am grateful for the years I spent taking dance lessons.  Just recently I got another fix when I watched the 10th season of a popular televised dance competition.  Loved it!

One of my favorite dance moves is a classical one called a pirouette.  It’s the whirling or spinning motion the dancer creates on toe point or on the ball of the foot. It’s a beautiful demonstration of elegance and balance when done correctly.  The key to a lovely pirouette―your “spot”.  The spot is a fixed object in the room on which you focus your eyes at the completion of a revolution.  You move but the spot does not, so when you come back around and focus on that spot, you’re stabilized and maintain balance as you go into another revolution.  In fact, your head should turn in advance of the rest of your body in anticipation of the spot thus minimizing imbalance.  You can rotate as fast and as many times as you like―as long as you spot. To put it plainly, during a pirouette, spotting helps the dancer maintain her center.

That brings me to a phrase I’ve heard several times lately, especially during award shows.  In the list of “thank yous” people often refer to their husband/wife or children as their “center”.  I find that so odd!  Faith in Christ aside, as someone who’s been let down by people one way or another over the course of my life, I can’t imagine referring to any person or any thing as my center.  People change, people leave and as we’ve seen in the recent world economic crisis, there’s no such thing as a “sure thing”.   Making a mere mortal or some object of your affection the center of your life, the thing you always spot and depend on for balance, is asking for trouble.  People and things were never designed for that position and it’s unfair to put that kind of weight on them.  My husband, my children, my mother, my father, my siblings, my friends, my finances―none of them could be the basis for my stability and joy.  They’re enjoyed, but they’re not fixed.

I’m so glad that as a believer I’m not left at the mercy of people and circumstances.  Hoping they don’t leave the spot, leaving me to fall flat on my rear. No, Colossians tells me that in this dance called life, Jesus IS the center.  Everything starts with Him and He holds it all together in perfect balance, especially for those who know He is their “spot”.  He never moves because He said He will never leave me.  When I go through my day looking to Him, He is right there.  Fixed, stable, dependable.  No matter what highs or lows the day may bring, He is there. Smiling, comforting, assuring, and rejoicing over me and with me. He’s the only one who can handle that position in my life and yours and, my God, I’m grateful it’s His pleasure to do so!

We look at this Son and see the God who cannot be seen. We look at this Son and see God’s original purpose in everything created. For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank after rank of angels – everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him. He was there before any of it came into existence and holds it all together right up to this moment.  Colossians 1: 15-17, The Message Bible