Thankful for Full Days
Last Saturday afternoon, I finally made it into the car with all the people and food and stuff I was responsible for bringing to the last performance of Touched by the King. The last hour had been wild and woolly, and I was leaving much later than I had expected. As I thought ahead about what I had to do when I got to the theater, I was sure that my plate was full.
Then, just as I arrived at the stage door, our friend and shipping specialist Ethan (who was portraying Jesus), asked, “Do you know what happened to Nate (Mary Evelyn’s husband)? He was sitting by the side of County Farm Road with a car on his trailer.” No, I didn’t know why Nate was beside the road with a car on the trailer that he was bringing in to town to take sets home after the play!
Almost immediately, Mary Evelyn came to the door with the news that Nate had been in an accident on the way to the theater! Nate was okay, but when he had stopped, the car behind him had not stopped but had gone up onto his trailer.
All turned out well in the end, but I found out very quickly that my plate wasn’t really full after all. It had room for responsibilities I wasn’t expecting. I made it to my station in the orchestra pit in time for the final performance, but not in time to see Mary Evelyn’s pre-play introduction!
Life is full for me and I am glad it is! Sometimes it’s hard to remember that everything that makes life full is a blessing, but it’s true nonetheless.
This is how the Homeschool Dramatic Society told a story of a full day in Capernaum, a day when people were “touched by the King.”
One Sabbath morning, as the people of Capernaum saunter toward the synagogue on the Sabbath, a leprous woman comes into town looking for Jesus.
Town women yell “Unclean,” before throwing rocks at her to get her out of town.
The vegetable peddler asks, “Can you imagine? A leper in the synagogue on a Sabbath day? What was she thinking?”
More and more people . . .
. . . slowly . . .
. . . make their way . . .
. . . toward the synagogue . . .
. . . while singing . . .
. . . “Hear, Israel, . . .
. . . the Lord is our God; . . .
. . . the Lord is One.”
Two of the last people in the throng heading to the synagogue are the demoniac and his daughter.
Peter (at right) runs into Matthew and chastises him for working for the Romans. Then, Peter, too, goes to the synagogue (which is offstage).
Two Roman soldiers discuss how quiet things are in Capernaum on Sabbath days. . .
. . . but suddenly the congregation comes back on stage . . .
. . . singing joyously!
They tell the Roman soldiers about the amazing miracle they have just seen. Jesus told the demon to come out of the demoniac and it did!
The healed man then bursts onto the stage and between the soldiers, shouting: “Praise be to the Lord! Praise be to the Lord!”
His daughter runs to him. He takes her in his arms and swings her around in joy, before she says, “Come on, Papa! Let’s go tell Mama!”
Then the furious Pharisees burst on stage!
“Why didn’t you stop Him?”
“Why didn’t I stop Him? Why didn’t you stop Him!”
“There are six days when people can be healed. Let them come on those days, and not on the Sabbath!”
The Pharisees rush offstage, heading for the home of Jairus, the ruler of the synagogue, while the townspeople continue to rejoice!
(I’m sorry these first photos of the side stages are dark. It took some trial and error to figure out how to photograph them. They weren’t dark in reality and the pictures do get better.) In Jairus’ house, the Pharisees fume and Jairus wonders what to do.
When the Pharisees leave, Jairus’ wife and daughter come in to see what they said. They speak of their support for Jesus. Jairus tells them that, as ruler of the synagogue, he is in a tough spot.
Back on the main stage, the woman who had been stoned before the service in the synagogue returns to Capernaum, saying:
“Thank you!” She looks at her hands and slowly speaks: “I am healed! The leprosy is gone! He reached out and . . . touched me. Now I can touch people again, and people can touch me! All because He touched me.”
Looking offstage, she says again, “Thank you! Oh, thank you!”
It’s people who keep bumping into our space and into our schedules. Aren’t you glad that we can touch them and they can touch us?
Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ
is born of God,
and whoever loves the Father
loves the child born of Him.
1 John 5:1