"God is real, and God lives inside of me and inside of all of us and it doesn't matter where I am, I know that, and I feel it, like right now I'm hot - it's a tingling. It's love. I feel it when I look at my child, I feel it when I look at my husband. It's God."
- Beyoncé Knowles Carter from Life is but a Dream
I love Beyoncé,
for anyone that knows me knows this is the biggest understatement of all-time. Since
1998’s hit single from Destiny’s Child “No, no, no”; to 2000’s “Jumpin’ jumpin’”
and “Say My Name”; to 2001’s “Survivor”, “Independent Woman Part 1”, and “Bootylicious”.
I loved her in Destiny’s Child then in 2003 my favorite song, “Crazy in Love”
was released I did that “uh-oh” dance almost every day. I have every one of her
albums, I collect magazines with here on the cover, I even have a book about
her, plus she’s Methodist, I love Beyoncé.
Last night
my deep love for Beyoncé came to a climax as I got to witness her perform live
for the first time ever! Dallas, TX 8PM American Airlines Center and the place
was packed. We had made the pilgrimage from across Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma,
and a few other states to see the woman heralded as the best live performer of
my generation. I was seated in section 117 row A seat 1, directly facing the 2nd
stage (yes she has two stages). Someone yelled in my ear, “Is that Jay-Z?” I
looked and sure as the sun rises there was his definitive nose, and his goofy
grin starting at the stage waiting for her wife, and partner of 13 years. I
screamed, “Hey Jay!” He turned and saw me jumping up and down frantically,
laughed then waved back. I was star-struck, not because I’m that big of a Jay-Z
fan, but because I love his wife more than I love ice cream or sweet tea. Loud
drum noises starting coming from the stage and the whole area was filled with
piercing screams and tears as we saw a canvas drop then get pulled away into
the rafters. Boom. Boom. Boom. Up pops Beyoncé with flames and sparks and the
crowd looses that last remains of sanity they were maintaining. She didn’t
speak she just stared at us, almost like she was absorbing the applause to
charge her batteries from the show she did the night before. “You ready?” she questioned as Run the
World started. She just started dancing and singing as if it’s perfectly normal
for a woman in heels to sing and dance and maintain perfect pitch without
running out of breath or taking an intermission. From the Run the World she seamlessly
transitioned into End of Time, I was trying to keep up with the moves, since I
was fortunate enough to have no one sitting next to me. I and the drunken White
women behind me were dancing like we were Beyoncé, singing loudly, as if people
had come to see and hear us.
“This isn’t
a show for you to sit down and get comfortable in your seats! I want you to get
up and dance like you’re the only person in the room.” I honestly had no
patience for people last night, showing up late as if they didn’t pay a ton of
money to come, saying excuse me to get past me when they saw I was dancing, Instagraming
and Facebooking when they should have been dancing, screaming, laughing, and
crying. I was too through, until this mother in my section noticed the empty
seat next to me and sent down her daughter who had to be around 9-10ish and
this little girl was getting it. When I say getting it, I mean she could have
been on the stage and people would have gone nuts to see her dance and hear her
sing. She and I were kindred spirits,
yelling to gain the attention of Beyoncé, Jay-Z, the dancers – we danced
together and high-fived after Single Ladies. I have no idea what her name is,
but for two hours she was my best friend, we were like peas in a pod, enjoying
the concert together.
What’s that?
Not a bird or a plane, it’s just Beyoncé flyng across the arena to get to the second
stage. That guitar starts up and we all knew what song was next. “Now’s my
favorite part of the show, cause y’all get to sing to me. I know y’all know the
words – sing!” Our response, “To the left, to the left, everything you own in
the box to the left…” It was almost like
a liturgical call and response. Yet more than any church I had ever been
to, this was a place of freedom, freedom to dance like no one was watching,
freedom to sing loud and of key, freedom to trust a stranger with your
child, freedom to laugh and cry without judgment,
we were all family last night and it was beautiful.
“Harnessing the power of your
body requires responsibility seduction is much more than beauty, it is
generous, it is intelligence, it is mysterious, it is exclusive.” And just like that Queen Bey
gave kids a better reason to save sex for marriage than the public school
system in Texas, she busts out with Naughty Girl, and as she danced
flirtatiously for all to see, everyone in the arena knew that her body was her
own, and that it is exclusively for one man in the room, as his was exclusively
for hers. I have problems with abstinence only sexual education in schools,
because it makes sex something shameful, which only means that it is talked
about in hushed tones in locker rooms and bathrooms without adult guidance and
wisdom, Beyoncé bypassed every parent in the room and said to every little girl
in that room, love yourself, love your body, but use it responsibly. Your body
is to be exclusive; your body is a temple. “When
you are with the right person it brings out the best in you.” It could have
been a light sermon on sexuality and the importance of marriage, but it was unassuming
and vulnerable, and personal like all discussions of human sexuality should be.
“If I should stay, I would only be
in your way…” the tribute to Whitney Houston lead into her ultimate closing
song Halo. She ran across the stage serenaded thousands of us, sticking the
microphone in the face of this young man who took it away, hitting every note
like he knew she was coming for him, he did a victory dance as she left for the
other side of the stage. She held up the mic to a fearful girl, “Don’t be
scared lil mama”, the girls sang softly at Beyoncé’s urging. Screams came from
off to my right, Jay-Z and Beyoncé’s family were sneaking away before the show
ended so of course I yelled out “Bye Jay!” we’re best friends he just doesn’t
know it yet. The show ended and I was shocked it had been slightly over two
hours. I just sat back, after dancing and singing my heart I felt even more energized,
more gleeful, more excited, more me than I felt coming in.
I wouldn’t be a good Christian blogger if I
didn’t somehow tie this in with a moral of the story. Which quite frankly I
thought I was doing throughout the whole blog, but lest you forget let me end
with this: like Beyoncé, other Christians should be vocal about their faith,
yet not shoving it down people’s throat; they should be humble, yet not feigning
modesty – if your bad and you know it please stand up and own it; they should
create safe spaces for people to be vulnerable, yet be responsible; they should
love who God made them to be, “Flaws and All”. Most of all, they should be
prepared to work tirelessly for the sake of the Kingdom, like Beyoncé works
tirelessly for her fans (mostly me) – and be prepared to answer the question God asks
all who are listening, “You ready?” May our answer always be “Yes”.
