The only show that I have directed three times (shout out to Cornerstone Theatre, Shady Side Theatre Company, and Frostburg Theatre Company), and the first original national Broadway tour my mom ever witnessed at the acclaimed Warner Theatre in Washington, DC, Stephen Schwartz’s 1970 musical based loosely on the Gospel of Matthew, “Godspell,” will always hold a special place in my heart. For those unfamiliar with the show, take the characters, stories, and lessons of Jesus found in the biblical narrative, then, replace the main actors with clowns, and then, set everything in a 1970’s urban landscape. Makes perfect sense, right? But it works so well!
As with other biblically-based shows in this series of devotionals, this particular production has plenty of songs that offer good news or pontifications of divine truth. However, there was one song that Stephen Schwartz didn’t include in the original production, that he insisted be inserted into the 1973 feature film, and has been included in most productions ever since. I’ve done this once before in this series, but the truth is, as I witness the business closures on Main Street and the small businesses making difficult decisions through the town I love, Frostburg, MD, during this novel coronavirus pandemic, and as we all are struggling along together in our own unique ways as we fight the spread of COVID-19, I could not think of a more appropriate song, so I encourage you to listen to this song, and read these hopeful lyrics.
Out of the ruins and rubble. Out of the smoke. Out of our night of struggle. Can we see a ray of hope? One pale thin ray reaching for the day. We can build a beautiful city. Yes, we can, yes, we can. We can build a beautiful city. Not a city of angels, but we can build a city of man. We may not reach the ending, but we can start, slowly but truly mending, brick by brick, heart by heart. Now, maybe now, we start learning how. We can build a beautiful city. Yes we can, yes, we can. We can build a beautiful city. Not a city of angels, but we can build a city of man. When your trust is all but shattered, when your faith is all but killed, you can give up bitter and battered, or you can slowly start to build…a beautiful city. Yes, we can, yes, we can. We can build a beautiful city, not a city of angels, but finally a city of men”
In Jeremiah 29:5-8, just before that famous scripture where God promises a “future filled with hope,” the prophet proclaims, “Build houses and settle down; cultivate gardens and eat what they produce. Get married and have children; then help your sons find wives and your daughters find husbands in order that they too may have children. Increase in number there so that you don’t dwindle away. Promote the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because your future depends on its welfare.” Even in the midst of pandemic, we’re all in this together, and we still can help build a beautiful city, yes we can, yes we can.
Dear God, unite us with hope and determination, even as we face uncertain times, and both personal and communal trials and tribulations. Give us a faith in you, and a faith in one another, that no brokenness this world brings our way is ever strong enough to deny us the abundant life you have planned for us and the eternal life you have promised us. Amen.
the harlequin complex 