Balance

The last few days have been filled with extremes. Certainly in my own life, but in the world as well, as we all know. On Wednesday, I found myself advising a new acquaintance of mine regarding the importance of trying to find balance in life, and I woke up this morning hoping I have found it in my own.

Some of you know I'm the Executive Director at the Avenue Theatre in my hometown of West Plains, Missouri. In the past ten days there were seven different things going on at our little community theater -- seven! That's a record number. With those events, I interacted with hundreds of people, and a full range of emotions came into play at the way various situations were handled (by myself and others), including (on the perhaps not-so-pleasant end of the scale) frustration, confusion, anger, sadness, disappointment. When creative personalities are involved in projects....well, look out; the drama is not always contained on the stage.

The thing about those kinds of emotions, which on the surface seem only to be destructive, is they tend to stick in our memories because they are mentally draining and often consume large chunks of time as we try to "fix" the problems they create. But in spite of chaos, and often because of it, creativity arises. It rises up, and I believe it triumphs.

I've been witness to an incredible amount of creative energy and original thought in the last few days. And yesterday, it registered with me how many young people I came into contact with who have such astounding vision and strength. With a few exceptions, they are from West Plains, most of them still living here, a few living elsewhere but with strong ties to home.

There's the group of elementary school kids who had been working on a play for months, and they performed it for the community last week. They had basically been bribed into it by a teacher and were not originally enthused about performing it, but they had so much fun, that now they want to come back to the Theatre and present it to their classmates.

Then there's our amazing group of Fine Arts Academy students, ranging in age from seven to seventeen from a wide variety of backgrounds, but with big hopes and dreams. There were the dancers and singers in the shows and concerts, brimming with talent and enthusiasm, culminating last night with the young men from "Ha Ha Tonka" who are kicking off a nationwide tour to promote their new album. Of the four band members, three were born and raised in West Plains.

A short film was shot at the Theatre this week, and I was overwhelmed at the level of professionalism and dedication to detail displayed by the young people involved, proudly we can claim most of them as from our small town here in the Ozarks. The creative process, as it unfolded, was inspirational. I was also in contact with young visual artists, dreaming of making a difference, of turning the world upside down.

It seems as though it should have been an exhausting week, and in many ways it has been. But this morning, I am energized. I am filled with joy and hope for the future. I don't claim to know when and how the world will end or even what that might mean, exactly. (Many of the Jews in the time of Jesus missed his message because they interpreted prophecies incorrectly, and I think there may be some of that going on now....just my theory. The return of Jesus might mean something different, might look different, than what Christians have been taught in church over the years.)

What I do know is this: All of us have a limited amount of days on this earth, and to let our minds dwell only on what seems wrong, to focus on the sadness and despair without balancing those feelings with confidence that God can cause beauty to rise out of ashes, is a waste of precious time.

Let's say a prayer for those who are hurting around the world, and celebrate love. Tell a child today how important he or she is and let them know you are hopeful for the future because of him or her. Let us find ways to give consideration for possible changes down the road, while at the same time being careful not to stifle the enthusiasm and innocence of youth by bringing worries about tomorrow into today. Balance, my friends. We're miserable without it.