Easter memories
My church used to put on an Easter play that drew a pretty decent crowd; enough so that we rented out the local theater instead of trying to stuff people into our sanctuary. This year was the first in nearly 15 years that my church didn't have one... but I'm not all that upset.
I was in it when I was younger; they needed kids to wave palm branches at Jesus and sit by him during a song. It was always so much fun to dress up like Bible characters and get stage makeup, to see the camels, lambs, and other animals brought in. After those two scenes we were bused back a block or so to the church and got to watch movies until our parents were done with the play and came to pick us up. I usually stayed one night during the week to watch it at the theater, and I never got tired of it. As I got older, the play changed a little and I got a different role, one in the dark so I didn't have to have makeup (and I could wear my glasses!), but it still felt good to know I was a part of something that touched people's lives.
It was a big part of our lives, too. My dad was even Pilate for a couple of years in (it's pretty impressive to hear him bellow out "What, shall I crucify your king?" and "Away with him! Let Him be crucified!"). His choir buddies teased him about being in a baby crib, because the little balcony thing the prop guys built really did look like a crib! My mom was actually a backstage worker who got to dribble fake blood our our actor portraying Jesus. Dinner that week would be what the church provided for the choir and actors. I even got my date to my junior prom during a rehersal.
But this year, we didn't have it. There was a minor skit thing that I didn't go see, but no elaborate set up and I'm almost thankful. The past couple of years were awful. One year they read Jesus' entire genealogy at the beginning and added a southern gospel quartet in the middle. The latter may not sound too bad by itself, but if you didn't know how out of context it sounded, especially with the rest of the music... and can you imagine four guys dressed up in middle-eastern robes and headgear singing something like that and not have it look hokey? Despite what my mom thinks, I wasn't being overly critical and too perfectionist. I know that our actors are simply average people who don't belong on a professional stage, but that's not the point; every previous year I loved watching the drama, loved to reaquaint myself with the "greatest story ever told".
Perhaps it's good we're having a break. Perhaps my church needs to reacquaint itself with a more simple production instead of the huge deal we were getting used to. Maybe we were getting too used to it and it became more of a Broadway number and ceased to be something holy.
I was in it when I was younger; they needed kids to wave palm branches at Jesus and sit by him during a song. It was always so much fun to dress up like Bible characters and get stage makeup, to see the camels, lambs, and other animals brought in. After those two scenes we were bused back a block or so to the church and got to watch movies until our parents were done with the play and came to pick us up. I usually stayed one night during the week to watch it at the theater, and I never got tired of it. As I got older, the play changed a little and I got a different role, one in the dark so I didn't have to have makeup (and I could wear my glasses!), but it still felt good to know I was a part of something that touched people's lives.
It was a big part of our lives, too. My dad was even Pilate for a couple of years in (it's pretty impressive to hear him bellow out "What, shall I crucify your king?" and "Away with him! Let Him be crucified!"). His choir buddies teased him about being in a baby crib, because the little balcony thing the prop guys built really did look like a crib! My mom was actually a backstage worker who got to dribble fake blood our our actor portraying Jesus. Dinner that week would be what the church provided for the choir and actors. I even got my date to my junior prom during a rehersal.
But this year, we didn't have it. There was a minor skit thing that I didn't go see, but no elaborate set up and I'm almost thankful. The past couple of years were awful. One year they read Jesus' entire genealogy at the beginning and added a southern gospel quartet in the middle. The latter may not sound too bad by itself, but if you didn't know how out of context it sounded, especially with the rest of the music... and can you imagine four guys dressed up in middle-eastern robes and headgear singing something like that and not have it look hokey? Despite what my mom thinks, I wasn't being overly critical and too perfectionist. I know that our actors are simply average people who don't belong on a professional stage, but that's not the point; every previous year I loved watching the drama, loved to reaquaint myself with the "greatest story ever told".
Perhaps it's good we're having a break. Perhaps my church needs to reacquaint itself with a more simple production instead of the huge deal we were getting used to. Maybe we were getting too used to it and it became more of a Broadway number and ceased to be something holy.