Today’s find: Stagecraft

Though I’ve seen it all before, the wizardry still captivates me.

It’s one thing to see magic (often digitally-created) on the screen. Quite another, to experience a live-theater production – one that transports you for a time into an alternate reality.

So it is for me each time I experience the subterranean lake – created through stagecraft – in “Phantom of the Opera.” I know there’s no actual water present. But I buy into the illusion, 100 percent, every single time.

My Sweetie and I have seen “Phantom” on three or four occasions now – most recently just a few days ago at the Fox. The first time, decades ago, was the best … because I didn’t know a misty lake was about to be conjured up on stage before my starstruck eyes. But little is lost, I realize, on the subsequent trips I’ve made to the theater, I’m still reeled in by the wonder of the scene. For me, that one set-piece is literally worth the price of admission.

And on this, the Second Sunday of Lent, I am moved to wonder at how our ever-creative God seems to understand this particular snippet of human nature. Each year on this Sunday, we are invited to encounter one of the most “stagecraft-y” episodes in all the gospels: the Transfiguration. 

This year, we hear Matthew’s version:

Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them; his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light.

Don’t know about you, but I’d pay money to see that – to be present for the dazzling scene, even if I’d seen it many times before. It comes complete with co-stars, too – Moses and Elijah, stopping by to have a little chat with Jesus.

But in this case, there’s a purpose beyond entertainment for the stagecraft, isn’t there? Several distinct intents, in fact: For starters, Jesus is preparing the apostles’ hearts for where the story will lead – to the cross, and then to the resurrection. The heavenly Father has a message for them (and us) too: “This is my beloved Son…listen to him.” And then there’s this little detail – one we might not fully grasp until we’ve seen the scene again and again:

Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and do not be afraid.”

With this gesture, a passive audience becomes instead a bitty band with a mission. Rather than remaining stationary – to “make three tents here” – they (and we) are being called to “go forth” like Abram, so that “[a]ll the communities of the earth shall find blessing in you.”

I think it’s worth noting that we are invited to revisit this astonishing scene each year. Every Lent, we are treated to a bit of celestial stagecraft: We’re told exactly how it is when God (Who is beyond our understanding) draws near. 

Yes, we are shown an inexplicable wonder. And then God dazzles our hearts again … by inviting us to join the backstage crew.

Let us pause now…to recall that we are in the presence of the Holy & Merciful One.

IHS