Sunday, May 30, 2004
Lessons Learned from Broadway
"Will I lose my dignity?
Will someone care?
Will I wake tomorrow
from this nightmare?"
For those of you who haven't seen it, this is a song from "Rent" (which is a fabulous show that you should all see...very thought-provoking, and the music is great). It's always been a really intriguing song to me, but I just figured out why. I'm not sure how well I'm going to articulate it, but here goes:
The song is obviously really sad. The music sounds sad too--desperate. Although I knew what dignity meant, I thought I'd look it up just for kicks and clarification.
1. The quality or state of being worthy of esteem or respect.
2. Inherent nobility and worth: the dignity of honest labor.
a. Poise and self-respect.
Will I lose my dignity? Will I lose my self-respect? Will I lose my inherent worth? Will I lose the respect of others and my worthiness in their eyes? Will they care? Will anyone care?
It starts out with one guy singing. He sings it one time on his own. Then a group of guys sings it. Then the group starts to sing and another group of men and women come in and sing it in a round with them. Then another group joins in. By the end of the song, there are so many people asking these questions, it's impossible to tell them apart unless you pay really close attention to one voice and follow it all the way through.
The music is beautiful, but the truth of the song is shocking. These are the thoughts running through the minds of many of the people we come into contact with every day. We work with them, we live with them, we go to classes with them, we go to church with them, we hang out with them, we may be them. We all want to know that we are loved, that our lives matter to someone, that we are worthy, that the crappiness in the world doesn't last forever.
These desires are universal. I believe so, and apparently the writers of "Rent" agree. They have the whole cast in on this song. It's the rich, the poor, the homeless, the junkies, the AIDS patients...everybody...universal. We were all created with these desires. If we were made to have these questions and to seek answers to them, I think that must mean that there are answers waiting to be found:
Will I lose my dignity? Well, you might if you're defining your worth by things that come and go. "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday today and forever" (Hebrews 13:8).
Will someone care? Yeah, Someone already does. "Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you" (1 Peter 5:7). "But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved" (Ephesians 2:4-5).
Will I wake tomorrow from this nightmare? It's up to you. "Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you" (Ephesians 5:14). But you can get help. "He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand" (Psalm 40:2).
"Come near to God and God will come near to you" (James 4:8).
Will someone care?
Will I wake tomorrow
from this nightmare?"
For those of you who haven't seen it, this is a song from "Rent" (which is a fabulous show that you should all see...very thought-provoking, and the music is great). It's always been a really intriguing song to me, but I just figured out why. I'm not sure how well I'm going to articulate it, but here goes:
The song is obviously really sad. The music sounds sad too--desperate. Although I knew what dignity meant, I thought I'd look it up just for kicks and clarification.
1. The quality or state of being worthy of esteem or respect.
2. Inherent nobility and worth: the dignity of honest labor.
a. Poise and self-respect.
Will I lose my dignity? Will I lose my self-respect? Will I lose my inherent worth? Will I lose the respect of others and my worthiness in their eyes? Will they care? Will anyone care?
It starts out with one guy singing. He sings it one time on his own. Then a group of guys sings it. Then the group starts to sing and another group of men and women come in and sing it in a round with them. Then another group joins in. By the end of the song, there are so many people asking these questions, it's impossible to tell them apart unless you pay really close attention to one voice and follow it all the way through.
The music is beautiful, but the truth of the song is shocking. These are the thoughts running through the minds of many of the people we come into contact with every day. We work with them, we live with them, we go to classes with them, we go to church with them, we hang out with them, we may be them. We all want to know that we are loved, that our lives matter to someone, that we are worthy, that the crappiness in the world doesn't last forever.
These desires are universal. I believe so, and apparently the writers of "Rent" agree. They have the whole cast in on this song. It's the rich, the poor, the homeless, the junkies, the AIDS patients...everybody...universal. We were all created with these desires. If we were made to have these questions and to seek answers to them, I think that must mean that there are answers waiting to be found:
Will I lose my dignity? Well, you might if you're defining your worth by things that come and go. "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday today and forever" (Hebrews 13:8).
Will someone care? Yeah, Someone already does. "Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you" (1 Peter 5:7). "But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved" (Ephesians 2:4-5).
Will I wake tomorrow from this nightmare? It's up to you. "Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you" (Ephesians 5:14). But you can get help. "He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand" (Psalm 40:2).
"Come near to God and God will come near to you" (James 4:8).
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