One Holy Catholic Church at Christmas

Christmas 1984 I was surprised with a large Christmas bonus the last day of work before the holiday, which allowed me to greatly expand my Christmas shopping the last day or so before Christmas. That left me wrapping presents late on Christmas Eve, and, searching for something Christmasy on have on TV as I worked, I first ran across the Midnight Mass broadcast "live" from the Vatican ("Live" because midnight hit the Vatican quite a few hours earlier than it did Eastern Standard Time). I'd been raised largely ignorant of Roman Catholicism and Church History in general--judging from my Sunday school lessons there simply were no "real Christians" between John the Revelator and Martin Luther--and had only recently begun attending an Episcopal Church and getting comfortable with the idea of liturgy not being all "vain repetition" condemned by Jesus. So, I was surprised and intrigued to realize how much of the service sounded familiar (once translated) to what I was hearing and saying Sunday mornings.

Looking back on that now I think of my earlier self as laughably naive. Shortly afterwards one of my best friends (and the only one I can claim in any way to have had an influence on his conversion to Christianity) decided to return to the Catholic Church he'd been raised in (and had pretty fully rejected when I'd first met him in high school), and that--along with my own rediscovery of liturgy--caused me to begin a serious investigation of Catholicism. Some time later I was prompted to do some reading on the Orthodox church, and eventually at seminary I had to take a few courses in Church History (which my wife now teaches). Despite various frustrations with the Episcopal Church and Anglicanism in general, and despite seeing many of my friends from seminary depart for either Rome or Constantinople, I've never felt the need to move any further up the ecclesial family tree (or down towards the roots?) than Anglicanism, but I appreciate what I have and can learn from other traditions and their followers. As former Archbishop of Canterbury Michael Ramsey said (in a quote I read a couple days ago):

From the deeds of Jesus in the flesh, there springs a society which is one in its continuous life. Many kinds of fellowship in diverse places and manners are created by the Spirit of Jesus, but they all depend upon the one life. Thus each group of Christians will learn its utter dependence upon the whole Body. It will indeed be aware of its own immediate union with Christ, but it will see this experience as a part of the one life of the one family in every age and place.

--quoted from The Gospel and the Catholic Church (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock (1936/1990), 43-44.

All of that to say, I watched the Pope's sermon on Christmas Eve, and found it quite moving. Though, with an introduction this long, I now will have to wait for a future post to comment on what he had to say.

"And There Was Evening, And There Was Morning..."

"There were a lot of times I had to turn my light out when I was acting out Bible stories," my daughter informed me the other day. "First there was the plague of darkness in Egypt, then there was Daniel in the lion's den, then when I did Jonah in the whale, cuz of course it was dark in there, and then when Jesus was in the tomb before he rose again. Then I had the light off just now because I was doing Revelation and John was in prison."

"And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night." And so it has been from the beginning.

I'm glad that my daughter appreciates the difference between light and darkness. I'm delighted that she enjoys acting out Bible stories during her play time, and I'm impressed at her memory and sense of the flow of the sacred story. I'm glad she didn't trip and hurt herself playing in the dark, and I'm glad I wasn't the one who walked in to find her lying still on the ground with her head under the bed.

"Honey, are you all right?" my wife asked.

"I'm PRETENDING to be dead."

"Why are you doing that?"

"I was acting out Bible stories and I was being Goliath!"

December Home Visits

When I first heard about the seminary here in Ambridge, one of the things I was told was that they used to require all of their students to participate in door-to-door visiting in the neighborhood, and I told myself, "If that is still the case, I'm not going!" The church I grew up in was heavily involved in this kind of "witnessing" and some of my deepest feelings of spiritual inadequacy as a teenager grew out of the fact that I simply did not have the kind of extroverted personality that caused me to strike up conversations with total strangers on the street corner and lead them to pray "the sinner's prayer."

Well, such visiting was no longer a requirement for the school, so we moved to Ambridge. And for most of the first decade, no one at my church ever brought up the possibility of me needing to go knocking on doors of people I didn't know. But then we started KidzLife, and somehow it made sense to take some time on a Saturday and try to visit the kids' homes, either to give out invitations for upcoming events, deliver Easter baskets or Christmas presents to kids who didn't make it to one of our parties, or just to get an opportunity to meet the families of the kids. And I've been doing it at various times, for various reasons, with varying degrees of regularity now for about three years. Except for a survey last summer there has been no "cold calling"--we've stuck to families who've had some contact with our church or children's program--and there have been no dramatic conversions (of the type I heard so much of as a teen) to report. But every time I do it, though I feel anxious, disgruntled, or unqualified going into the experience, I always come away from it feeling positive, energized, and thankful for the opportunity.

This past Saturday was no exception. We had a ton of things planned for the family (our regular Saturday chores plus a few holiday events), so it was really inconvenient to take this break in the middle of the day and head down to church to meet with the team and spend an hour or two visiting. On top of that, the main reason for this week's visits was to invite people to our church's Christmas services, which I felt a little funny doing since our family always travels to Virginia for the holidays, and we've only been home to attend our church's Christmas service once. With us not doing KidzLife this semester (which has generally been my main connection to the families of these visits), I was feeling even more cut off and unqualified than usual. And it was snowing, for the first time this year--nothing particularly beautiful or nasty, but just COLD!

But I went. I was teamed with someone I didn't know well (but who fortunately was more of an extrovert than I), and several of the houses we were assigned to were people I didn't know, people others had made contact with through the summer survey. On the other hand, I had a good time getting to know my partner (who DID have some connections to the neighborhood, both because he lived there and because he'd covered some of these same houses in the summer survey), we had an incredible number of people we actually got to talk to (on a typical visiting day it seems there have been far fewer people at home or who answer the door when we knock; I didn't know, but my partner informed me that there was a "Big Game" on that day, so it was a good time to catch folks at home). Best of all, I happened to encounter a lot of the kids that I had met either through my drama class this fall or through Arts Camp last summer, including a case where several were together playing at the one house we visited, another case where the two sisters were the ones to answer the door (giving us the opportunity to wish one of them a Happy Birthday), and one case where we just happening to run into a girl with her mother walking down the street! Everyone we talked to was appreciative of the invitation and many said they would plan to come to one of the services or the Christmas dinner listed on the invitation.

Definitely God was blessing us, the folks praying for us back at the church were doing a great job, and God wanted ME in particular to be out there in order to encounter those kids and give them a face they recognized to go with the invitation. And once again, I was glad I did it!

"I ain't no Moses but I ain't no clown"

I thought I should provide a bit of commentary on the song I posted last night. Though it made for a great title for my first blog entry in several months, I DO enjoy stories of the sort described, and I tend to follow the "Esther S. Cape School of Conflict Management" (as I spoofed in a skit for the Young Peacemaker's curriculum a couple years ago), the verse that really caught my attention was the one involving Joshua. I don't typically see myself as a Joshua-type figure (partly due to the lack of Moseses in my life), but I find myself in leadership roles and I feel I need someone telling me, "Be strong and courageous" (Josh. 1:6-9). I don't feel like a leader, I don't want to be a leader, I've not always had good relationships with leaders. Part of it, I'm sure, has to do with growing up in the anti-authoritarian 60's, when everyone in leadership roles was thought to be evil or corrupt, part of it has to do with failed father-figures. Whatever contributes to it, I have this dislike/distrust/dishonoring attitude towards authority. And yet--as Pogo observed all those years ago--"we have met the enemy and it is us!" I can't say older white men in positions of leadership are all bad because I am one (unless I just want to be bad and make an excuse for it). Whatever my father or step-father did to me, I AM a father now, and it's up to me to be the best father I can be. I've been appointed as the Director of Christian Formation at my church, and people are counting on me to be a disciple of Jesus and a discipler of others (which I should be anyways, just be virtue of being a Christian, but having that title really clinches the deal!). I ain't no Moses, but that's no excuse to be a clown. There's work to be done and "Christ is counting on me."

"I'm Still Here"

I heard a song the other day on last.fm from the group Waterdeep. I haven't been able to track down sufficiently the credits for words or music (so apologies to those responsible), but the lyrics really spoke to me, and I thought I'd share them with you here:

"I'm Still Here"


I went flying in a dream last night
Whenever I was scared, I took flight
It didn't seem brave and it didn't seem right
but it always seemed easier than puttin up a fight

CHORUS
And I'm almost gone
But I'm still here

Tell me a story that'll make me feel
Something far flung but something real
Something that's human but not depraved
Somebody endangered, but somebody still saved

When Joshua sat them children down
He said I ain't no Moses but I ain't no clown
And I know how that river's wide
But if you follow me we'll make it to the other side

CHORUS
And I'm almost there
But I'm still here

Scatterday Thoughts

Every September there is one day when everything seems to be happening, and that day this year was today. I had an 8 am appointment to meet someone for prayer, my daughter had a birthday party to go to (though NOT the same friend whose party she's gone to the past few years; someone ELSE moved in with a birthday party on the busiest day of the year), the 19th century historic site two blocks from us had their annual fall "Erntefest" with costumed craftspeople and tourguides, the Sewickley Academy had their annual Clotheseline Sale, and a co-worker had a party and ceremony to bless her new home. And it's Saturday, so I made breakfast (thankful for the fact it was an "Egg Day" and not a "Pancake Day") and we did our family trip to the Sewickley Library. In the crunch of events, I RSVP'd that we would NOT be attending my co-worker's party, and we ran out of time to make it to Erntefest (which was probably best, as it was raining and Boo has a bit of a cough). So the busiest day of the year wasn't as busy as it could have been with better weather, better health, and more to spend at the Sale...

I taught my second session of Fall Drama Camp on Tuesday. There was no other adult on hand to help me (though there was a guitar class down the hall), and things were a bit chaotic. I'm still finding it difficult to wrap my mind around this class--I enjoy it, and the kids seem to enjoy it, but a lot of the things I've done before in similar situations aren't working. Part of the problem is I'm used to working in theater with older kids or young adults, so I'm having to adjust and pitch things for a younger group of actors. But I think I'm probably also dealing with some levels of ADD in some of these kids, which is something new for me to try to tackle (both in teaching and in group dynamics). I'm trying to read up on the subject and make MORE adjustments to my goals and methods of teaching...

Praying at the high school this morning, I realized how totally out of touch I am with what is going on there. A decade ago, when I started working with the youth group at church, we had quite a number of kids who not only attended the high school, but who were all pretty active in band, theater, and other activities, so I had a pretty good idea from them on what was going on on campus. The youth in our church today are few in number, and the vast majority of them attend other schools. The two who do attend the local high school are both introverts, so even if I asked them directly, I don't know that I would get any clear sense of what life is like for the majority at Ambridge High...

Aside from the Drama Camp, I am not actively engaged in any outreach projects at the moment. There may be an Alpha Course in the Spring, and we may have a youth track to that I can be involved in, but we could not field enough volunteers to continue offering the KidzLife program, and what needs our teens have for a youth group seem to be being met by their Sunday school teachers. I've not been asked back to teach any classes for the Center for Hope, and I'm feeling a bit rudderless. My wife says God is giving me time to relax, be refreshed, and work ahead on some projects, but I'm having a tough time seeing where we're going from here...

We finally got around to getting a converter box for our TV. For years (since cable got pulled) the only channel we have received was ABC, with a lot of snowy static. As the only TV show we watched with any regularity was LOST, that worked out fine, but with the switch to Digital, we got nothing. So now we get CBS, NBC and something called RTV (which we'd never heard of, but airs reruns of REALLY old shows--the same ones that were in reruns when we were kids 40 years ago!). My goal is to find ABC before LOST starts its final season this winter...

In the meantime, we've been catching up on episodes we missed (most of Season 3), and that has been fun. I'm developing a theory that the entire show my be an adaptation of Archibald MacLeish's J.B., with Jacob and his Nemesis sitting in for Mr. Zuss and Nickles (who in turn stand in for God and Satan in the book of Job), observing human suffering and placing their bets on how it will all turn out. We shall see...

"Babies Are Happy..."

Last night my daughter asked me to draw a baby crawling. I did so (in my typical Disneyesque fashion), with a short-sleeved shirt, long pants and socks. Then she did her 7-year-old version (evolving from stick-figure to a beginning sense of mass and perspective), but when it came to clothing the crouching figure, she asked how to draw a diaper. Then she asked how to draw diapers by themselves, and did three of different sizes across the top of her drawing. She asked about the different kinds of diapers she had worn and then asked how spell "HUGGIES" and added that in large capitals at the bottom. She then informed us she was drawing a diaper ad, and asked what else an ad would have in it; I suggested she put a price in one corner and label the three diapers across the top "Large," "Medium" and "Small". Then she added other smiling baby faces around her full-figured baby and explained "Babies are happy when they wear Huggies!" I told her that was a great slogan ("What's a 'slogan'?") and she asked me to write it above her big "HUGGIES".

I've often thought I could have made a decent living on Madison Avenue (if I could only shed my conscience), but I attributed my fascination with advertising to certain teachers I had, especially in Jr. High, who stressed educating us as critics of media, and advertising in particular (we had to collect or journal examples we saw of "snob appeal," "sex appeal," "bait-and-switch", and other tactics). I thought I could be successful in the field because I could identify (and then master) the tricks.

My daughter, however, has largely been shielded from mass media. We don't have TV, rarely listen to radio, hardly ever purchase a newspaper, and what magazines we may have had subscriptions to have almost all lapsed. I'm not sure where she got the idea to create an ad, much less where she got her sense of layout, design, and her ease with summing up the whole appeal in such a snappy little saying.

I guess maybe it's not all "tricks" that can be learned. Partly it must be innate.

How I Spent My Summer "Vacation"

Many apologies to anyone who has been trying to check this blog to see what I'm up to. I assure you my "radio silence" has been due to more, rather than less, activity. For two weeks in June and all of July, I was involved in Ambridge Arts Camp, a companion to Ambridge Sports Camp, run by Ambridge Youth Ignite and my friend Eric Geisbert. Each morning from 9 to noon, kids were invited to participate in a different sport each week, then from 1 to 3 in the afternoon (after most of the kids enjoyed a free lunch provided by the YMCA and hosted by Church of the Savior) we gave them a chance to explore their creativity. For the first two weeks we focused on visual arts, studying eras and artists from the past (that's a photo of me teaching the kids about Matisse), letting the kids draw, paint, sculpt, and do art with various materials and methods. The next two weeks we taught them drama, and the final two weeks, we focused on music. I was director for the visual arts and drama weeks, and Sadie Rankin directed the music weeks, during which time I worked with the kids on writing lyrics for two original songs. It was all very fun and exhausting, and we all got stretched in a number of ways! Four of us plan to offer more classes in the fall, and Eric is hoping to offer one sport not otherwise available in Ambridge, so we're looking for ways to continue this ministry and these relationships throughout the school year.

On a somewhat sadder note, we had to cancel our VBS due to lack of adult volunteers. I still plan to work on the scripts and other materials in hopes of doing it at another time, but clearly we did not have the people to make it fly this summer. Many things seem to be in transition with our children's ministries at COTS, and it falls to me to discern what direction we need to take. Your prayers are welcome in this endeavor.

Surviving the Apocalypse

Well, we did it! Three nights worth of puppet shows adapting Revelation in a single night. It was incredibly rough, we were short by about four puppeteers (requiring a lot of running around and simply holding up the puppet who was speaking, without having a chance to actually get your hand in and move the mouth; my worst moment was juggling the woman clothed in the sun, her male child, the red dragon, AND one of Michael's angels at the same time), but we made it through. Thanks to all who helped, thanks to all who prayed, and a special thanks to Pam, who managed to find and execute a number of key musical cues (what's heaven without music?)!

I'll have more to write as I reflect on this. For now, I have to try to re-organize all my puppet materials and devote those energies to the puppet class I'm teaching for the Center for Hope over the next few weeks. And puppetry may make an appearance in Arts Camp later this summer. (I don't think we will do much with it in VBS, though we'll probably bring back Paolo the Parrot in some form.)

The most discouraging part of our final program was attendance. We had been drawing fewer and fewer kids as the end of the year neared, but based on other closing programs (when we mail out invitations and encourage the kids to bring their whole family), I was anticipating we would have a fair turn-out. We had only six kids. Clearly we need to take some time off (and with some key team members away or otherwise engaged this fall, it is looking like we will have a half-year hiatus for the ministry) and re-evaluate what we are doing and who we are trying to do it for. Hopefully the neighborhood survey we will be conducting this weekend will help us start to analyze what is going on. We shall see...

"Gazing on the stars and walking in the dust"

Several months ago I caught a piece on NPR where they were discussing a comic featuring a pirate with an eye-patch, a peg-leg, and a hook for an arm. Behind this pirate were two other pirates talking about him, and, after reading through several possible captions (which apparently listeners had sent in), the guest gave the official (or winning?) caption of what the one pirate was saying to the other. Pointing to the pirate in front, the one says to the other admiringly, "I could never be HALF the man he is!"

The main character in this upcoming VBS drama is a recurring character from our "Pirates in Paradise" VBS I wrote two years ago. At the conclusion of that storyline, the majority of the pirates voted to quit being pirates, accept the Royal Pardon, and devote themselves to spreading the word that even pirates can be forgiven and make a fresh start. They changed the name of their ship from "The Bloody Gem" to "The Heavenly Pearl," voted off their former captain Harry DuPillage, and elected as their new captain the former first mate, Dick Dead-Eye.

Dick Dead-Eye, as played brilliantly by our Assistant Pastor Ron, was a bit of a buffoon. Instead of a parrot, he had a chicken pinned to his shoulder, and when the children laughed and pointed to it, he pretended not to see, as the chicken was on the side where he wore an eye-patch (and hence, his name "Dead-Eye"). He also had a hook for a hand (though I can't recall which hand it was, and there is a good chance he changed it from day to tday). Elevating Dick to Captain of a missionary ship, and having his experiences parallel those of St. Paul will require some rewriting of the character (which will be somewhat eased by the fact that Ron, unfortunately, is unable to reprise the role, as he will be a real-life missionary in Brazil), but I hope to keep some of his fun-loving spirit intact.

"The one-eyed man still has one good eye," as Mark Heard sings in his song "Schizophrenia" (which focuses on seeing both the good and the bad in life). It seems a bit insensitive in the third person, but those I have known with handicaps of various sorts (including Ron, who lost his tongue to cancer several years ago), seem to be able to look on the brighter side of life and make light of their infirmities (if they are able to cope at all and not fall into bitterness and depression). That is how I imagine Dead-Eye Dick handling his disabilities. There are those who insist on referring to the Captain now as "Richard the Seer" (based on his growing reputation as a Christian leader, church planter, miracle worker, and visionary), but I see him as being a more earthy character who answers to both names. He is appreciative of the fact that he's "still got one good eye" (and one good hand), and he looks forward to the day when he lands on the King's Shore and receives a fully restored body, but in the meantime he gets by best he can, and doesn't pretend to be more than he is.

"Over on the west coast we have Treasure Island"

I was thinking the other day about VBS and the need for female roles in the drama. Pilgrims come in pairs, so of course there will be a female Puritan to help hound our reformed pirates as they try to be missionaries. But I was thinking of other possibilities and remembered reading about Mary Read and Anne Bonny, and I got to thinking of a female pirate. The ex-pirate missionaries first goal was to reach other pirates with word of the Royal Pardon they had all claimed, so I thought on the first day they could take the gospel to some other pirates, and a female pirate could be one of their first converts. Then I tried coming up with a name for this female pirate, and I got to thinking of the book of Acts and Paul's missionary journeys (which is my primary source of inspiration for this venture) and I remembered Paul had a female convert early on in the city of Philippi named Lydia, so a female PIRATE convert might be... LYDIA the TATTOOED LADY!

Delay of the Parousia

It probably surprises no one that my attempt three weeks ago of creating heaven for my puppet theater did not come together in sufficient time. I did make some progress two weeks ago, but only enough to cover the letters to the seven churches (with my translucent Jesus made of pop bottles). Last week we were lacking sufficient puppeteers for what little I had planned to move the story forward, so we are NOW planning on doing the entire book of Revelation (or at least chapters 4-21) in a single night, making our grand finale THE grand finale of all time!

I'm envisioning three scenes (which originally would have been over three separate nights), the first covering the opening scene with a door open in heaven up through the seventh seal and silence for a half an hour (seems like a good place to break). The second scene will begin with the "War in Heaven" (from chapter 12), introducing the Dragon, followed by Beast and False Prophet (I'm hoping to pick up a Pirate puppet, as for years--since reading Zechariah 11--I've pictured this character as a one-eyed, hook-handed man). Having established the Unholy Trinity and their earthly rule, we will back up to the 144,000 being sealed and the trumpet judgments, ending with the Two Witnesses of Chapter 11. The third scene will introduce Mystery Babylon, go through the seven bowl judgments ending in Armageddon, and conclude with Christ's reign, the Great White Throne, and the New Heaven and New Earth. Should be quite a night!

For Tonight's KidzLife Meeting...

Puppets needed:

John the Revelator
Celeste (the eagle)
Benedict
Beatrice
Armond (Roman guard and father to B & B)
Jesus (as described in Rev. 1; still not sure how make him sufficiently bright)
God (either what we used for the Ancient of Days or a really bright light)
Living Creature like a lion
Living Creature like an ox
Living Creature like a man
Living Creature like an eagle
At least 2 of 24 elders (Daniel might work for one)
Azmaveth (angel)
Lamb of God
White Horse and Rider
Red Horse and Rider
Black Horse and Rider
Pale Horse and Riders (Death and Hell)
Martyr
King/Queen

Props & Set Pieces needed:

7 Golden Lampstands & Lamps (got battery operated tealights, but still need holders)
Two-edged sword (coming out of Jesus' mouth ???)
Keys to Hell and Death
Door to Heaven
Thrones for God and Lamb
Rainbow
Thrones for Elders
Crowns, Harps and Bowls for elders
Scroll w/7 Seals
Bow and Crown for White Rider
Sword for Red Rider
Scales for Black Rider
Altar
Sun that turns black
Moon that turns red
Stars that fall


Things wanted for tonight:

Fog machine
Seal puppet (for optional gag line "No, not THAT kind of seal!")
Lighting/Hologram/CGI capability
At least two more weeks to prepare!!!


MOST NEEDED:
Prayer
Sensitivity to the Spirit
Energy & Efficiency
Help with Sewing & Prop-Making
Attentive Children
Coordinated (individually and collectively) Puppeteers
Script

Roman Youth

I didn't actually get into John's visions in the first week, nor did I do much to explore the characters of either John the Revelator or his friend the eagle Celeste. I had thought that would be the central relationship, and ultimately I suppose it will be. But I started with the two Roman kids, Benedict and Beatriz, and as I wrote, their characters really took off. Dialog is the essence of drama, and for me it is often how my characters take on a life of their own, sometimes even taking the plot in directions I had not originally intended. In this case, we have two bored kids, stuck on this island where they don't even have any trees to climb, because their Dad is stationed here and their mother has died. That last fact is an instance of something I hadn't thought through earlier, and it may give me trouble as things progress, as they speculate about pagan Mom in the afterlife. In fact, the whole piece took on a layer of apologetics I hadn't intended, with John being the only true believer in a cast of pagans. We'll see where that goes. At any rate, since I'll be out of town the next week, and most likely unable to blog further, I decided to post the entire script for your reading pleasure. Comments are most welcome!

VISIONS OF PATMOS
Week 8

[BENEDICT and BEATRIZ enter with bows and arrows.]

ARMOND [offstage]: Benedict! Beatriz! Don’t go too far down the beach!

BENEDICT: We WON’T!

ARMOND [offstage]: And stay where I can see you!

BEATRIZ: We WILL! [to BENE] What a WORRIER!

BENE: I KNOW! We’re stuck on an ISLAND! It’s not like we could WANDER OFF far or get LOST!

BEAT: Or be attacked by WILD ANNIMALS!

BENE: Or get CAPTURED by Vandals or Goths!

BEAT: Maybe PIRATES?

BENE: We’re ROMAN CITIZENS! What pirate has the NERVE to attack us?

BEAT: Probably he’s worried about the prisoners.

BENE: Are you KIDDING? We work these guys to DEATH in the mines! You think any of them has the ENERGY to attack us?

BEAT: Well, Papa’s always saying we should stay away from them and not talk to them.

BENE: That’s because they’re BENEATH us! We shouldn’t STOOP so low as to consider them!

BEAT: What EVER! Let’s shoot! What should we use as a target?

BENE: How about that pile of driftwood down there?

BEAT: WAY down there?

BENE: Yeah! What’s the matter? Can’t you shoot that far?

BEAT: I can shoot farther than YOU!

BENE: No you can’t!

BEAT: Yes I CAN!

BENE: Prove it! Shoot the farthest you can!

BEAT: You shoot first and I’ll shoot farther!

BENE: Ok! [shoots] THERE! Beat THAT!

BEAT: Just watch me! [shoots. BENE is stunned.] THERE! How’s THAT!

BENE: That was AMAZING!

BEAT: Just call me Diana the HUNTRESS!

BENE: You better watch your language!

BEAT: Why? Who’s to say that our mother wasn’t a GODDESS?

BENE: Dad never said that. He just said she was LIKE a goddess.

BEAT: And now she’s gone, maybe she IS one!

BENE: You think normal people get to be gods and goddesses?

BEAT: They do in SOME of the stories!

BENE: Only if they’re VERY SPECIAL people.

BEAT: Our mother WAS very special.

BENE: I don’t remember. I was too young when she died.

BEAT: I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you sad.

BENE: I’m not sad! Let’s get back to our game.

BEAT: What game?

BENE: Who’s the better archer!

BEAT: I thought I’d already WON that!

BENE: You can shoot FARTHER, but can you shoot HIGHER?

BEAT: Well, HOW are we going to measure THAT?

BENE: We’ll just shoot at the same time, and see who’s arrow goes higher!

BEAT: Well they’re not going to stay UP there! What do we do when they turn around and fall to earth?

BENE: RUN! Ready? Aim… RELEASE! [both shoot arrows in the air] Look at THAT! See how HIGH mine went?

BEAT: Annnnnd HERE THEY COME!!!

[BENE and BEAT run offstage. An arrow and the eagle CELESTE fall from the sky. BENE and BEAT creep back over to the bird.]

BEAT: Oh Benny! What did you DO?

BENE: I didn’t do anything!

BEAT: You shot a bird!

BENE: How do you know it was ME?

BEAT: MY arrow didn’t go that high! YOU won THAT round! And it’s an EAGLE! You killed an EAGLE!

CELESTE: OHHHHHWWW!

BENE: I didn’t KILL it! SEE?

BEAT: STILL! You shot it down! You INJURED it! THAT can’t be good…

BENE: Why can’t that be good?

BEAT: It’s an EAGLE, you blockhead! The symbol of the ROMAN EMPIRE! Jupiter’s favorite bird! This is a VERY BAD thing you’ve done!

BENE: You think Papa will be upset?

BEAT: I think the ROMAN ARMY will be upset! I think the GODS will be upset!

BENE: OK! OK! What do we DO?

CELESTE: What happened?

BEAT [whispering]: It’s TALKING!

BENE: So TALK to it!

BEAT: PEOPLE can’t talk to EAGLES!

BENE: They can in SOME of the stories!

CELESTE: Where am I?

BENE: You’re on the Island of Patmos.

CELESTE: How did I get here?

BEAT: My brother shot you down!

BENE: It was an ACCIDENT! HONEST! I didn’t see you flying there!

CELESTE: What were you shooting at, Boy?

BENE: Nothing! I just shot an arrow in the air, to see how high it would go.

CELESTE: Foolish, foolish child!

BENE: I’m sorry!

CELESTE: Well , don’t just stand there.

BEAT: What, what should we do?

CELESTE: Get it OUT of me!

BENE: Beatty?

BEAT: I—I’ve never done anything like that!

CELESTE: If you children are going to PLAY with things that can HURT others, then by JUPITER you’d better learn how to HEAL those you hurt!

BENE: OK, well we’ll enroll in the next class we can, but WHAT do we do NOW?

BEAT: I don’t KNOW!

BENE: YOU’RE the BIG SISTER! You always act like you know EVERYTHING!

BEAT: I do NOT!

BENE: SURE you do! You’re ALWAYS telling me what to do. Now I NEED you to tell me what to do, because I DON’T KNOW!
CELESTE: Children! FOCUS! OOOOOH!

BEAT: Well if YOU hadn’t shot in the air!

BENE: YOU shot too!

BEAT: But you shot HIGHER!

JOHN [entering from cave]: What’s all this fuss about?

BENE [moving to hide CELESTE]: Fuss?

BEAT [joining BENE in trying to cover up]: What fuss?

JOHN: I don’t know. Sounds like SOMEONE shot SOMETHING too high… Do you want to tell me about it?

BEAT: We’re not supposed to talk to you.

JOHN: Oh, I’m sorry. I guess that’s because I’m a prisoner, and you’re the children of one of my guards. Is that it?

[BEAT nods.]

JOHN: Well, I’m sorry to disturb you. It just seemed like maybe you needed some help, but I guess I was mistaken… [Turns to go.]

BENE: Um… Sir?

JOHN: Yes?

BENE: You wouldn’t happen to know how to heal an arrow wound, would you?

JOHN: Who is wounded?

BENE: Um, well, it’s not so much a WHO as a WHAT [steps aside and shows JOHN CELESTE]

JOHN: I see.

CELESTE: SOMEBODY help me!

BENE: Can you heal her?

JOHN: I know someone who can?

BEAT: Who?

JOHN: My Lord.

BEAT: Are you a worshipper of Apollo? Or Aesclepius?

JOHN: No, my Lord is Jesus Christ.

BEAT & BENE [together]: WHO?

JOHN: Jesus Christ.

BEAT: Is that some new god?

JOHN: No, he’s the eternal Word. He was with the Father in the beginning, before anything was made. Here, help me get her into my cave.

BENE: Is this JESUS in your CAVE?

JOHN: He’s EVERYWHERE. But last week I saw him in my cave, yes.

BEAT: You did?

JOHN: Yes. Help me lift her.

CELESTE: AAAAAUGHH! CAREFUL!

JOHN: Just bring her over here into the shade. Son—what’s your name?

BENE: Benedict.

JOHN: Benedict. I have some herbs on a table, just inside the cave there. And a knife. Could you get them for me?

BENE: Sure! [goes to cave].

JOHN: And daughter—

BEAT: Beatriz.

JOHN: Beatriz. I will need some salt water. There’s a small pitcher in my cave, just run down to the sea and get some. [BEAT goest to cave and exits down the beach]. And what is YOUR name?

CELESTE: Celeste.

JOHN: Celeste. “Heavenly.” And my name is John.

CELESTE: And this new god of yours—

JOHN: There’s only one true God. You and I know that.

CELESTE: I’ve never heard of this “Jesus”

JOHN: He is God’s Son. You fly through the heavens and look down on all of creation. Certainly you know HIM!

CELESTE: I don’t know what you’re talking about.

JOHN: Well God has brought you here for a very special purpose.

CELESTE: I don’t like the sound of THAT!

JOHN: He has given me a message which I must get to the seven churches of Asia minor.

CELESTE: The seven WHAT?

JOHN: Churches. Gatherings of Believers, in Ephesus, Smyrna, Peragmum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea. And since I’m stuck on this island, and prisoners aren’t allowed to use the mail service, I need you to take it to them.

CELESTE: You expect ME to be your CARRIER PIGEON?! I’m an EAGLE! I’m the symbol of the ROMAN EMPIRE. I’m the favorite of JUPITER!

JOHN: There IS no Jupiter, and you KNOW it. These Romans have put a lot of crazy notions in your head, and made you think more highly of yourself than you ought to think.

CELESTE: Leave me be! I don’t want anyone who disregards Jupiter to try to heal me.

JOHN: I worship the ONE TRUE GOD. And you are the greatest of his winged creatures, but you are STILL a creature, and you must do what HE commands. And I think he has brought you here to carry his word to his people.

CELESTE: I don’t believe you.

JOHN: Search your heart, and you will find it is true. And whether or not you want it, I AM going to tend your wound, because if I don’t, it will fester and you will die.

BENE [returning from cave] Here you go!

BEAT [returning from sea]: And here’s your water.

JOHN: Thank you Benedict. Thank you Beatriz. Celeste, this is going to hurt a bit. [stands over her and pulls the arrow out]

CELESTE: AAAAAAAAUGH!

JOHN: There it is! [holds up arrow]

CELESTE: OHHH! Is that an EAGLE feather on the shaft?

BEAT: Yes it is.

CELESTE: ALAS! See how I have given my enemy the means of my own destruction!

BENE: But I’m not your enemy!

JOHN: And you won’t be destroyed by it. Now just let me clean out the wound…

ARMOND [offstage]: Benedict! Beatriz! Where have those two gone to?

BEAT: Here we are, Papa!

ARMOND [entering]: What are you doing here? Haven’t I told you before not to go near the prisoners’ quarters!

BEAT: It’s alright, Father.

JOHN: My name is John.

ARMOND: And what are you doing with my children?

JOHN: Your son shot down an eagle, which I am tending.

ARMOND: You shot down a WHAT?

BENE: An eagle. It was an ACCIDENT! She just flew into my path!

ARMOND: Son! Do you have any idea how SERIOUS this is?

BEAT: Yes Papa, we know.

JOHN: That’s why they thought it best to keep it a secret from your fellow Romans, and brought the bird to me.

ARMOND: Are you sure you can heal it?

JOHN: With God’s help, I can.

ARMOND: Very well then, I thank you. And children, lets be on our way.

BEAT: Yes, Papa.

BENE: But can we come back tomorrow and check on the bird’s health?

BENE & BEAT [together]: PLEEEASE!

ARMOND: All right. But come on, now!

BENE: Goodbye John.

BEAT: We’ll pray for your success.

[ARMOND, BEAT & BENE exit.]

JOHN: And so will I, child, so will I!

CELESTE: And so will I!

JOHN: Just be sure you pray to the TRUE GOD!

[CURTAIN]

"I Shot an Arrow in the Air..."

So, I ask myself, why would an eagle sit and listen to St. John go on and on about his vision, if he didn't particularly like the man or the task he was being asked to carry out (deliver John's scroll to the seven churches)? Perhaps because it was injured and couldn't fly away from the island for awhile.

And how would it become injured? Archery seems the most likely way of injuring an eagle in the first century and forcing it to land (unless, of course, it was attacked by another eagle, but that would put all the drama in the clouds when I need my audience focused on the ground--and I can't think of a good motivation for one eagle to attack another). On the other hand, if two children were having a contest to see who could shoot the furthest (or highest), it is possible one of them could strike the eagle by accident.

If there are children on the isle of Patmos, then they would most likely be the children of one of the Roman guards. I cannot find any evidence, but it would seem that, with the eagle being a symbol of the Roman Empire (and the army in particular), shooting an eagle would be a crime and an incredibly unlucky thing to do. It could be ruled treasonous and/or sacrilegious (as the eagle was Jupiter's particular bird).

The father of said children would not want them associating with the prisoners on the island in general. But, if one of them had injured an eagle, and one of the prisoners thought he could nurse said eagle back to health, and Dad wanted to keep his child's crime covered up, I think we have the formula to give a good dramatic setting to the next several weeks' puppet shows for KidzLife.

The Continuing Adventures of the Heavenly Pearl - Early Thoughts on VBS

When last we saw our pirate friends (VBS two summers ago), the crew had voted nearly unanimously--the notable exception being the Captain Harry DuPillage--to accept the Royal Pardon and give up being pirates. "Dick Deadeye" had been named the new captain, the ship had been rechristened "The Heavenly Pearl," and the crew (minus Captain Harry) had set off from Paradise Island to spread the word about the Royal Pardon to others.

This summer, we intend to see how things are faring for our pirates-turned-missionaries. Missions will be the theme for this year's VBS, and each of the five days (August 10-14) will focus on a different aspect. Monday will focus on the call to "Go into all the world" and the Holy Spirit's role in directing the mission. Tuesday will focus on the Power the Holy Spirit gives in speaking out and confronting the powers of the evil one. Wednesday will deal with Perseverance in the face of persecution; Thursday will deal with the place of Wisdom in missions (and the fact that God's wisdom is seen as foolishness in the eyes of those who are perishing); and Friday we will focus on Endurance and "fighting the good fight and finishing the race." All of this will be shaped to reflect the missionary journeys of St. Paul as recorded in Acts.

Last year we found it was very effective to involve the children in the action by making them members of the "flock" and seating them inside the sheepfold. To apply this same principle this year, we will have them all sit in the boat as members of the crew. Although none of our actors from two years ago look like they will be available this year, I suppose we will write the same characters and simply recast the parts. In addition to Captain Dick Deadeye and first mate Andrew (and former Captain Harry, who will be stirring up trouble still trying to get his ship back and talking the crew into returning to piracy) we will be adding two new young men: Tim and Mark, who will be joining the crew and tracing the story arc of St. Paul's young traveling companions by those names (John Mark being one that turned back for awhile and was eventually restored; Timothy being the faithful son, servant, and successor to Paul).

Along the way we will meet other characters in port: Kingsmen, legalistic soldiers who don't trust these former pirates or their liberal application of King's pardon to others like themselves; Magicians whose authority and livelihood is threatened by the extension of the King's authority into their realms; Pirates who want to continue their lives of crime; Barbarians who believe in their backwardness that the missionaries are gods; and Sophisticates who don't believe anything, but love talking speculatively of how certain beliefs, if held, would alter their lives.

Specific characters and relationships need to be fleshed out and story arcs must be integrated into the overall plot, but this is where things stand as of now.

"Gotta Get a Message to You"

I was listening to an oldies station the other day and ever since then off and on I've had the Bee Gees song "Gotta Get a Message to You" in my head. It's not a song I remember hearing before, and I'm NOT a huge Bee Gees fan, but in thinking about my next dramatic endeavor, it has helped me to hone the central character's motivation...

The puppet play for tonight's KidzLife was a transition piece. Having gotten Daniel out of the lion's den last week, we arrived at Daniel 7, the point at which Daniel's dreams and visions of the future take precedence over his life history. The book actually goes for five more chapters in this vein, but it all gets a bit complicated and needs to be read in context with other similar passages. Hence the idea of moving on to Revelation. So tonight we had the angel Azmaveth help Daniel understand his dream, and then get called away to help John understand his vision on Patmos. Beginning next week, John will be our focus.

Daniel, of course, is alway pictured with lions, and John is often pictured with an eagle. To my knowledge there is no actual legend of John encountering an eagle, but ancient iconography made the identification as a way of saying how his Gospel (especially in its opening) "soared" above the others, and focuses on the Divinity of Christ. I had thought for some time that as I had Daniel talking with his lion companions, I would have John talk with his friend the eagle. But I had no idea what they would say to each other.

Then it occurred to me: John has just written down his revelation, with divine instructions to send it to the seven churches of Asia minor. John is a prisoner stuck on an island. He's "gotta get a message" to some people, but it seems doubtful that as a prisoner and non-citizen he could rely on the Roman postal system. So, if he encountered a creature that could fly, why not try to persuade it to deliver your letter?

The eagle, of course, would be offended by such a suggestion. Serving as a "common carrier pidgeon" would be beneath a bird of such regal elegance. So John will have to convince the bird that the message of his letter is lofty enough to require an eagle to carry it (hence giving us a reason for him to recount his vision to the eagle). To fill out this cast, I think I will write a part for a Roman Guard whose suspicions are aroused by the prisoner's time spent with the bird.

Stations of the Cross

A college friend, who went with me and several other students to Israel in January 1990, recently requested that I send him some photos of our trip. This prompted me to go back through my album and scan several of them, uploading them to Facebook and making them available not only to him but to all of my other friends online. Because our computer is slow, that took a good deal of time, stretching out over several weeks, and carried me into Holy Week. Though of course my experience of being in the Holy Land has affected my experience of reading scripture ever since, I don't often pull out these photos and dwell on them at the same time I am reading and meditating on particular passages. This was particularly meaningful to me as I was directing a dramatic reading of the Passion Narrative for our Palm Sunday service, and reading parts for a Maundy Thursday seder service and a Good Friday Stations of the Cross service.

I am glad that my first experience of the Stations of the Cross was at the actual sites in Jersualem where these events (some scriptural and others simply traditional) took place. Of course, a lot has changed in two thousand years, some of the events may have never happened or likely happened elsewhere (according to the best archaeological evidence today), and what sites are most likely to be authentic have ancient churches built over them so that what happened on that spot (if it happened on that spot) looked very different than it does today. Still, the idea of participating in something with millennia of pilgrims living and dead, trying to be faithful to what they believe to be following in Christ's footsteps from the place of his condemnation to the place of his burial, has a lot to commend it, and though I did it as part of a study tour rather than a pilgrimage ("Catholics do pilgrimages; Protestants do study tours"), having been there brings the experience alive to me in a way I can't otherwise imagine.

One of the things that stands out in my memory is the fact that there is (or at least was) a "Fourth Station T-Shirt Shop." I did not go in so I cannot testify as to what they sold there (and how sacriligeous or religious-kitschy it might have been), but the fact of the store's existence and name is a reminder of the struggle between God and Mammon, the sellers of livestock and moneychangers whom Jesus chased out of the temple, and of the thirty pieces of silver Judas collected for agreeing to betray his Lord. The movie version of Jesus Christ Superstar, with its rows of shopkeepers who have turned the temple into a tourist trap really hits the nail on the head here. Yes it's awful how salesmen today are preying on pilgrims, but they were doing it in Jesus' day as well, and so it somehow makes the experience all that more authentic.

Another clear memory of walking the Via Dolorosa with our group was the fact that when we reached the Seventh Station (which alledgedly marks the spot where Jesus fell a second time, one of those things not specifically mentioned in scripture), the site had recently been vandalized and the smell of teargas was still strong in the area. Again one's immediate feelings are "How awful! How inappropriate!", but when one thinks back to the fact that Jerusalem has been a religious and political hotspot since at least the time of Jesus, when Samaritans and Jews constantly strove to desecrate each other's religious sites and Roman soldiers were always after Zealots and other troublemakers, it again reinforces the fact that nothing is new under the sun, and that if we want to truly walk in the way of Jesus, these are the kinds of things we should expect to encounter.

The last several stations are actually on or in the site of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Although "Gordon's Calvary" is much more what one would expect to see when visiting Jesus' tomb, there is no question among archaeologists as to which site is more likely to be authentic. Much in the church feels overwrought and distracting. But the rock under glass which is purported to be Golgotha seemed convincing to me, and the stillness of being in the actual Sepulchre (once one gets past the fact that all the rock from around the cave has been cleared away to make the church, once one makes it through the line and is out of sight of the crowds and the gold and everything else) is rather moving. The empty tomb is truly empty, and you can sense the disorientation of the women and disciples who ran here. Something is missing, something is not how we expected it to be. The pilgrimage ends in emptiness, but that emptiness is the heart of the Good News. "He is not here, He is risen! ALLELUIA!"

Babylon Wrap-Up

I can't believe how quickly the weeks are passing by this spring! Of course, "spring" seem like a misnomer as the temperatures have fallen and snow has been coming down most of the day. "A little bit of winter hid and came out in the spring," as my daughter described it (and thus began a poem the entire family contributed to this morning). That was a lovely start to the day, but nothing much seem to function as it should from that point on, and I was racing to get another scipt done before this evening's meeting.

We made it to Daniel 6, where we explained how Daniel got into the lion's den in the first place, and then got him out. So it's goodbye to the "denizens" and off to dreamland and from there to Patmos, where we switch dreamers and John the Revelator will take center stage. I have numerous problems to solve there, both in ideas and execution, but before I get to that, let me wrap up a few things from the Babylon segment.

We've had three different kings in the past three weeks, all performed by a very talented fourth grader named Beth. She had done Nebuchadnezzar in earlier episodes, and she helped to develop him into a very childish character. Belshazzar, Nebuchadnezzar's grandson, is known primarily for giving the big party at which God's hand appeared and wrote words of judgement on the wall. I played that up and developed him as a brain-dead party dude, egged on by a couple of "Bill and Ted" type buddies. Then tonight we had Darius the Mede, who was more pompous and self-important, egged on by a couple of his presidents (Jackson and Johnson) to pass the law forbidding prayer to any other than the king during "Darius the Mede Month." The last two weeks the flashback characters were handled as puppets in a separate acting space, rather than the live actors, and the children were involved as puppeteers.

When I first developed the lions, I thought Lenny and Leonora would be more important, with Lex remaining a gruff presence mostly offstage. As it turned out, Lex was the most important and the central story arc ended up being how he came to like and respect Daniel (whom he originally thought of as a forbidden delicacy he was determined to find some way of eating). Quite unexpectedly as I wrote, Daniel began using the stories of bad kings he had known to teach Lex how to be a better king, and he assured the lion that some day he would return to the wild and to his dominion (as Nebuchadnezzar did after his seven years of living like an wild animal). Thanks to a heavy sewing session last night, I was able to get Lex's mouth opened and working in time for tonight's opener, the ol' lion-tamer-putting-his-head-in-the-lion's-mouth routine. Nora startled him and reflexively he swallowed, then gagged on the prophet, which put Daniel in danger and called out the angel Azmaveth, but when they were finally able to explain they told everybody that Daniel was simply looking into a cavity which was giving Lex trouble. That display of trust, and the final farewell when Daniel left the den tonight proved what good friends they had become.

Flashbacks to Babylon

Our third week in the Lion's Den was a bit chaotic... My wife, who seemed to be getting over the flu on Monday had a major relapse on Tuesday, and I had to step up to the plate and handle the homeschooling for the day. Consequently, I didn't get my planned day off to prepare for that night, and around 3:00 decided to go with a "music video" approach to telling the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. I had sort of hoped to do something musically (probably the title song from *Cool in the Furnace*), but what was at hand was a song on a Beginner's Bible CD Pam loaned me. It was fun, involving sound effects of a fire chief and dispatcher's radio communication, had a female vocalist and a bit of a rap. It required purchasing four additional puppets to play those roles (the fireman actually was designed to be a fireman, but the dispatcher was a queen I redressed in a discarded policeman's uniform, the rapper was a knight that I converted to an angel (left the shiny suit on and just replaced the helmet with a starry halo and added wings) and the lead singer was a cowgirl (no reason she should be, but no reason she shouldn't, so I left her as she was, for lack of a better idea). We ad-libbed a short intro with Daniel and the Lions, in which Daniel explained he was away on a diplomatic mission when this happened, and so he had to read the story from official transcripts (he rolled out a scroll which was the cue for the music). Interestingly enough, the Bible doesn't tell us WHERE Daniel was when his three friends were thrown into the furnace, but the rabbis came up with some VERY interesting possibilities in the Talmud (one of my favorites was that he was in the Valley of Dry Bones with Ezekiel, helping to raise the dead).

I of course couldn't see how any of this went down (the fire department and space for the singers were in front of the kitchen window we use for the Den, out of my view), but I'm told the kids were into it, and the puppets danced appropriately. The only major problem was my puppeteer for the angel Azmaveth, Daniel's guardian, went AWOL, and the fearless prophet of God had to run away in order to end the scene.

Also out of my view was the doorway we filled with red, orange and yellow streamers to serve as the fiery furnace. Four child volunteers and one of my adult leaders acted out the story as the puppets narrated in song. This followed a pattern established the week before, involving live actors (including some of the kids) in the flashback scenes. That week we had combined the leftover part of the first script (involving Daniel's refusal to eat the king's food) from chapter 1 with the story of Nebuchadnezzar's dream in chapter 2 for an extended flashback to his early days at court. Surprisingly I did not do much with the character of Nebuchadnezzar, but the young actress who took the role really played it up, turning him into a childish egocentric (giving me a good idea for how to develop the character for next week!). The standout in that week's script was Ashpenaz (who actually was a composite of the chief eunuch in chapter 1--I didn't bother explaining that--and Arioch the chief guard in chapter 2). I wrote him as annoying and annoyed, fearful and sarcastic, all at once. He couldn't understand why his young charges refused the finest food in the empire for the sake of a God who, if he cared anything for them, would not have allowed them to be conquered in the first place. He tried mocking them, reasoning with them, and eventually begging them, fearful that if they didn't do as they were told HE would lose his head. When they ended up being the most impressive new students, rewarded with high positions in the king's court, he had to admit maybe they knew what they were doing, and there "might be something to this God of yours after all!" As I tried to imagine this character, what came to me was a voice from one of the "Fractured Fairytales" in an old *Rocky and Bullwinkle* episode, the one in which Prince Charming is a crooked schemer who, instead of kissing Sleeping Beauty and waking her up, decides she's more interesting asleep, and turns her into a tourist attraction, building "Sleeping Beauty Land", charging admission, and making a fortune off of merchandise tie-ins. I don't know who the voice talent was, but he was very familiar and I'm sure had a lot of the work back in the day.

The challenge for the coming week is to write the script for King Nebuchadnezzar's "Beastly Time" (when he is humbled and eats grass like an ox), and to get the lions' mouths moving.

Denizens

Well, due to a 4-day mens' retreat (among other things) I was unable to get the puppets really ready for their debut, as I'd hoped; but we had a script, we had actors, and we had SOMETHING to help visualize the characters as we launched ourselves into the Lion's Den at KidzLife last Tuesday night...

Mr. Smith is not pretty. He's actually quite large and scary looking. He started out based on a caricature of Harrison Ford, but as I sewed him he got more and more wrinkled (of course, seeing the fourth installment of Indiana Jones, I'm not TOO far off the mark). He now has something of a Yoda-esque quality to him. But even as I created him (primarily to be "Pennsylvania Smith"), I had thought of letting him play a large archangel Michael in "The Legend of Slappy Hooper." So when I needed an angel to guard Daniel from the lions, it seemed a logical role for this puppet to play. I've given him the name of Azmaveth for this role, and explained his age and look by saying he's a Warrior angel who has been fighting evil for 3,000 years. He's all about action, and not terribly verbal, which fits in with the Indiana Jones/Pennyslvania Smith type of charater.

No one is quite sure who "Darius the Mede" was, but it seems that his reign in Babylon coincided with Cyrus I's reign over the Medo-Persian empire. That puts Daniel's time in the lion's den AFTER 70 years of him being in exile, which means he HAS to be 80 or older at this time. Thinking of likeable elderly people whose voices I could do, I ended up with a personality and style of speaking similar to Jimmy Stewart (dead now and forever young in many films, but I can recall him in several live appearances in the 60s and 70s, mostly on talk shows, at which point he was quite old). Originally I'd hoped to make both an old Daniel and younger Daniel (another reason for picking Stewart, in that I had a good idea of what he looked like at both ages), but I had to settle for buying a puppet, stripping him of his garb (in this case, a fireman's hat and coat), recostuming him in a simple tunic and putting white hair and beard on over his brown hair and moustache he came with. My wife informed me that his hair fell off shortly after the performance began last week, but I've had time this week to sew it in place, so FROM NOW ON, not a hair from his head shall be harmed...

At first, I thought we could get by with one lion, and I naturally pictured something large and ferocious, roaring with a wide-opened mouth (and from several classic cartoons of yesteryear, I pictured the angel slapping him with an "Ahhhhh, SHADDUP!"; at which point the big fierce cat becomes humorously meek). As I thought more about it, I realized that if I wanted a female character anywhere in this piece, it would have to be one of the lions. So I began to imagine a tough lioness named Leonora, as the primary "take charge" character in the den. Of course, the lion is the "king of beasts" and I didn't want to let go of my initial image, so Lexus Rex emerged as the big scary beast, who makes all the others do the work while he sits back and looks regal. I thought he could stand in for all the puffed-up self-important kings Daniel has to deal with in his flashbacks (as the most famous story about Daniel happened near the end of his life, I thought this would be the ideal setting from which to tell all of the earlier stories). Then Lenny appeared in my imagination as a comic foil, inspired partly by one of Scat Cat's band (in *The Aristocats*) and partly be Cheech Marin's voice work for Disney, as a hep cat beatnik/hippy who likes to take life easy and doesn't really go in for all this "king of the beasts" bit. He kind of likes Daniel, and is not so hip on Lex or other authority figures, and he acts in very undignified and unlionlike ways, partly in protest agains the pomposity and pretense of royalty which the other lions expect him to conform to. As Lenny and Leonora started dialoging, I began to see that their bickering, Lenny's attitude towards Lex and the Lion Code, and the fact that gets away with so much could best be explained if Lenny was Leonora's younger brother. This comes out clearest in the fact that, while everyone else refers to her as Leonora or "Nora", Lenny consistently calls here "Lena."

Though the lions' characters were well developed in the script, I didn't have time to do anything with their bodies before last Tuesday. I found a lion-headed rug which was the proper size for Lex, and picked up at a second-hand store a large stuffed Simba (the best I could do for a lioness) and another stuffed lion for Lenny (which I simply added orange sunglasses to, to help convey his character). I need to work in the coming weeks to turn these into actual puppets, hollowing them out, making them more flexible, and giving them movable mouths. It should be an interesting challeng, working from the outside in, rather than the inside out...

Fasting: From What and For What

[Every once in awhile--maybe twice a year--I get to speak to the "big people" at church. This was the sermon I preached last night, posted for your enjoyment and edification.]

Ash Wednesday 2009

Isaiah 58:1-12
Psalm 103
2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

An Irishman moved into a tiny hamlet in County Kerry, walked into the pub and ordered three beers. The bartender raised his eyebrows a wee bit, but (with reservation) served the man the three beers, which he took to a nearby table and quietly drank them all by himself.The next evening the man came to the pub and again ordered three beers and carried them to table by himself and proceeded to drink the three beers all by himself. For weeks, this man came into the pub regularly and when he did, he ordered 3 beers and took them to a table and drank the 3 beers all by himself.Soon the entire little hamlet of County Kerry was whispering about the "man who orders three beers."Finally, after many weeks, the bartender broached the subject on behalf of the village."I don't mean to be prying but folks around here are wonderin why your always order three beers and drink them alone?""Tis a wee bit odd I would be supposin" the man replied. "You see, I have two brothers, and one went to America and the other went to Australia. We promised each other that we would always order two extra beers, whenever we would partake, as a way of keeping up the family bond."The bartender and the entire hamlet of County Kerry were pleased with his answer and with the reverence for family and soon the "man who orders three beers" became somewhat of a local celebrity and source of pride to the hamlet.Then one evening the man came in and ordered only two beers. The bartender served them with a heavy heart. The Irishman took them to the table and drank the 2 beers all by himself. On the next visits to the pub, the "man who orders three beers," would only order two beers. And drink them all by himself. Word spread around the hamlet quickly. Prayers were offered for the soul of one of the brothers. The next day, the bartender said to the man, "Folks around here, me first of all, want to offer our condolences to you for the death of your brother, you know - only two beers."The man pondered for a moment then replied, " You'll be happy to hear that my two brothers are alive and well. It's just that I, meself, have decided to give up beer for Lent."

We have been conditioned to think of Lent as a time for giving up something—something we want—and living in a society which teaches us we should HAVE everything that we WANT makes this difficult. We are rocking the boat, going against the grain, choosing what is hard over what is easy. We are expected to fail, to fall short, to succumb to temptation. We are expected to be grumpy, to complain, and to take advantage of any loopholes we may devise (like the man who ordered three beers). And if by some superhuman effort we succeed in giving up something we want, we are to be admired, congratulated, and held up as a lofty example for others to worship and adore.

We are conditioned to think that we should never give up something without getting something in return. All of our political and economic dealings are explicitly handled in this fashion, and many of our less formal social interactions have this as a hidden agenda. We should never be short-changed; our objective is to come out ahead, and convince the other party that what we are giving up is of far greater worth than what we are getting in return (all the while secretly knowing that is NOT the case).

And so it is that we are conditioned to bargain with God. IF we decide to give up something for God, then we think—consciously or unconsciously—he will OWE us something. Whether we relegate it to heavenly blessings in the future, or expect to “name it and claim it” here on earth, there is a part of us that thinks that what we do for God—or especially what we REFRAIN from doing for the sake of God—has got to result in some blessing for US. Why else would we do it? Or NOT do it?

This is where Isaiah’s audience was. They assured themselves, they assured others, and they even assured God that they were people who were seeking the Lord daily, delighting to know his ways, praying for justice and drawing near to God. Most importantly, and probably most OBVIOUSLY, they were FASTING, and they wanted everyone to know. By Jesus’ day this was down to an art form, with all of the make-up and costumes of a stage play. People would look gloomy, disfigure their faces, and cover themselves with sackcloth and ashes. They might have even hired someone to blow a trumpet to call everyone’s attention to the fact, “Look at me, I’m FASTING!”

Whatever they were doing, it failed to get God’s attention, and they were TICKED! “Why have we fasted, and you see it not?” the people scream at God. “Why have we HUMBLED ourselves, and you take no notice? I mean, just LOOK at what we’ve given up! Didn’t you SEE the RESTRAINT I exercised there! That was quite a tasty meal I passed up! And the DESSERT! Aunt Suzy made her special cheesecake just for me, and I didn’t have ONE SLICE! And HUMBLE—humble pie, that’s all I had! Did you SEE how hard I worked on that clean-up day? That was certainly BENEATH someone of my birth and breeding, but I DID it! And that’s not even my GIFT! Man, it takes a REALLY HOLY MAN to do that kinda stuff! Yes SIR! I gotta be the holiest person I know! And HUMBLE too! So where’s my blessing, huh? Whatcha gonna do for me, now, after ALL I’ve done for YOU!”

[Shrill sound of a trumpet blast].

“Lift up your voice like a trumpet” God tells Isaiah. Trumpets in those days were not soothing jazz instruments, but something more like an air raid siren. The Pharisees may have have gathered little crowds with their trumpets, but God’s trumpets brought down the walls of Jericho, called the people to repentance in Joel’s day, and the seven trumpets of Revelation will end the world as we know it. God is trying to get our attention.

“Cry aloud, and do not hold back…Declare to my people their transgression, and to the house of Jacob their sins.” There is nothing we can do to make ourselves holy, to make ourselves acceptable, or to put God in our debt. The Creator of heaven and earth is not some puny pagan deity that can be made to do what we want by any kind of bargaining, cajoling, or use of sympathetic magic. That is the kind of religion the Israelites were supposed to put an end to when God brought them into the promised land. It is a false worship, a fasting that ends in fistfights, a piety of pride, a praise that tries to cover up oppression. This is not the worship, not the service, not the kind of fasting God wants.

What is it that God wants? Once he has the attention of these supposed worshippers, what does he tell them? Does he slap them down for their pride, remind them of their puniness like Job or give them pointers on how to purify their worship and offer better sacrifices. That might be what we would expect, but no. Instead, he directs their attention to their neighbors, the ones they are getting in fistfights with and oppressing. God tells them, “If you really want to please me, if you really want to know what kind of fasting gets my attention, then try putting your neighbor first. If you are really concerned about justice, don’t just pray about it, DO SOMETHING! Loose some yokes, forgive some debts, feed some hungry people, give what you have to those who need it.” And we say, “That’s not worship, that’s service! That’s not UP, that’s OUT! Let’s keep these things straight!” But they’re really all connected, because, God says in I John 4:20, “If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.”

THEN, God says, “you shall call and the Lord will answer, you will cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’ THEN shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as noonday. THEN the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places, you shall be like a spring of water whose waters do not fail.”

Already, I can hear the wheels turning. “Ok, so if I fast AND do service projects AT THE SAME TIME, THEN I will gain God’s favor for being a holy person, and win all the benefits and blessings that I want!” No. Although your neighbors will certainly appreciate it more, there is still no way we can EARN God’s favor. But fortunately we don’t have to; Jesus Christ has taken care of that. All our righteousness is like filthy rags, as Isaiah tells us elsewhere, but if we are in Jesus, Paul tells us, we have the righteousness of Christ.

So fasting is fine, giving up things for Lent is fine, but let us be careful of HOW and WHY we do whatever we do.

A bulrush bows before the breeze, NOT to prove what a good bulrush it is, or because it hopes to gain something from the breeze; it is simply submitting to a greater force. When John on Patmos heard someone speak to him in a voice like a trumpet, he fell at his feet as though dead. When the Alpha and Omega speaks to us, we have no choice but to listen, and he tells us our attitude should be one of those who say, “We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.”

Beginning Again

Fortunately, it is easier to re-launch a blog than it is a rocket. Actually, growing up during the "race to the moon," I don't think there was such a word as "relaunch." If something was launched once back then, there was not much left after separation and orbit to "relaunch". I guess maybe the term came into use with the advent of the space shuttle...

"At any rate, I can tell I'm starting wrong. Let me begin again..."

For various reasons, once launched before Christmas, this blog went on a long hiatus, but I'm back, and hope to be posting at least weekly (and less weakly) in coming months. My apologies to the few readers who managed to find this.

The other new beginning I want to mention is that KidzLife started off again with a Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper. This was our third Spring to kick-off in this fashion, and everything seemed to really come together well. Thanks to all who provided food and served the meal, and special thanks to my team, especially Pam for leading music and Allie and Debby for doing the Exile story using Godly Play. I'm always impressed (and somewhat baffled) at how well those stories connect with the kids, but obviously God uses them. And I'm hoping we will use them more in our kids' programs and Sunday School.

Personally, I was pleased to see once again how well the Pancake Race went over. It's a simple thing, I know, but games are not my forte, and when I come up with one that the kids like so much, it is very gratifying. (Jesse Marshall, who worked with me in an earlier stint as youth pastor, had a real gift in this area; he could say to the kids, "Ok, for the next ten minutes I want you all to jump up and down on your left foot" and the kids would swear it was the most fun they'd ever had. Most of my games I feel like the kids are merely indulging me.) In Olney, England, they've been running this race with housewives flipping pancakes every year since 1445, so we just re-enact it as a relay race. The past two years the kids have had so much fun that once they all went through the line once, they just kept going until we made them stop.

This week was mostly setting the scene for the semester, which will be dealing with Daniel. Next Tuesday we will start with puppets, though at this point it is not at all clear HOW! Prayers, please, for time, money and creativity...