This past weekend I went to Wheaton Academy in West Chicago to see Ballet 5:8 Present the Story of Daniel in Belteshazzar: A Perilous Tale (http://www.ballet58.org/performances/belteshazzar-a-perilous-tale-chicago-west-suburbs/2015). It was a ballet of the story of Daniel with an all-female cast.  It was really good and I recommend seeing it if you live in the Chicagoland area. I do not remember being to a ballet before, but I watched, Black Swan to see Natalie Portman. I remember a scene in a bar where she tells Mila Kunis that the only guys who like ballet are homosexuals. Now, I know that Hollywood is supposed to be known for their liberal attitudes but that seemed pretty closed minded to me.

However, I know that a lot of the things that I have liked in my life have made women raise eyebrows. I like art and little kids and I have been impressed by ballet ever since I saw the film, White Nights with Mikhail Baryshnikov and Gregory Hines. I have had cats as a single man! Yet even at 47 and being the father of a child, when I went to the show on Saturday, in the back of my mind was, “What will they think about me? Oh, I need to make sure to look manly!” Thankfully, another thought came into my mind, though. That was that, THIS is how God made ME. I want to believe that He made me this way, for a reason.

A book that I am reading is entitled, I Declare: 31 Promises to Speak Over Your Life and it is by the tv preacher, Joel Osteen. I kind of thought to marry some Christian ideas with some Buddhist thought by memorizing what is said in the declarations (scriptures and inspirations) and use them as mantras. Now if you check on Joel Osteen on YouTube, you will see a lot of negative comments about Joel Osteen. A lot of pastors say that Joel talks about the Law of Attraction more than he does about God. They say that he is more about the prosperity Gospel than “the real” Gospel of sadness, sacrifice, sin, and suffering. Yet, Christ came that we may have life and life abundantly (John 10:10). I am not saying this to defend Mr. Osteen, no one is perfect. I am not saying he has all the answers. The reason I am writing this is that Mr. Osteen concentrates on one aspect of the Gospel, that is hope. According to Paul, faith, hope, and love are pretty important. That is Osteen’s calling. That is the way that God made him, for a reason. Another way of saying this is that Mr. Osteen as well as I, are just one part of the body of Christ (thank God). 

Maybe you feel like a vestigial tail, erector fili (the hair on your arms that stand up when you are scared), or male nipples. Maybe you do not think you have a purpose or that you belong, “to the body”. But God put you on this Earth to be a part of His kingdom and I am sure that He has given you dreams. Sanctify your dreams with His blessing and He will lead you. Joel Osteen is doing it with preaching. Chuck Norris’ said that he wanted to glorify God in his martial arts! Truett Cathy served God by opening a chicken restaurant! Sometimes other people in the church or temple will make you feel like a sore thumb because you do not look like they do, you were not called to the same purpose, or according to them, you just do not “fit”. Even Paul mentions these people. They maybe an elbow while you are a ear lobe and they say, “unless you are an elbow, you don’t count.” It is at these times that we must remind ourselves that God has given each of us special interests, special needs, special missions, if we are in the body of Christ. It is also at these special times that we need to willing to say to our critics (maybe not out loud), “We may all be part of the body of Christ, but that is no excuse for being an: