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.