LAST Monday evening my wife and I had the honour of being guests at a performance of "Lights, Camera, Action", a show by Dawn Dawson's Bolton Academy of Dance and Stage.

It was a spectacular evening. It showed what young people, and the not so young, are capable of when given the right training and encouragement.

Young people today often get such a bad press that it was a real treat to see the opposite side of the coin. It was also good to know that the whole event was for charity.

But the evening was of such a high quality that it also set me thinking more widely about art and performance.

There is a difference, it seems to me, between entertainment and art. We all like going out for an evening's entertainment. Perhaps we have had a hard, or a boring, day at work. An entertaining evening gives us a lift. We can clap, we can laugh at the funny bits, it really takes us out of ourselves. It puts life in a different perspective. It reminds us that life can be fun.

But when there is something of exceptionally high quality, we move into a different league. It lifts our spirits in a way that mere entertainment can't. Real art gives us a completely different perspective on life that doesn't wear off when the show is over. It lifts us up to see things we never thought possible. It gives us another window on life and reveals just how creative human beings can be.

The show we saw last Monday was good throughout, but there were some numbers in particular which moved into the realm of real art. They were of such professional quality, they were full of energy and creativity, they showed the sheer power that can be communicated when people are genuinely in step with one another. There was a sense of amazement and wonder at the young people who were dancing to highly complex music and choreography. It spoke to me of all that is best in human nature and in human life.

But the power, the energy, the obvious enjoyment, also reminded me of the God who inspires such art. There was something more than human gifts and skill involved here. There was something of the Spirit of God shining though the performance.

You can't keep God locked up in churches. I see glimpses of God all over the place in some very special moments. And I saw God at work last Monday night in the music and the dance. It was not just entertainment, it was art. It spoke to me of something infinitely precious. There were glimpses here of life in all its fullness.

Thought For The Week

In his regular weekly coumn, the Rev Michael Williams, Vicar of Bolton Parish Church, shares his thoughts with readers on life in the town and around the world