After India, there was really no breather for me, as i had a lot of catching up on Easter drama rehearsals. 2 days before i was to leave for India, Pastor had caught me by surprise asking if i would like to try out for this year's Easter presentation in church. Despite my telling her i wouldn't be around for much of the rehearsals, she said no problem. So no more excuses not to say Yes! I had only a couple of prelim trial runs before i left for India, lugging the script with me... not that i did much with it, since it stayed in my file almost untouched when i was on missions!!. So by the time i came back, i had to express-track learning lines, positions and fitting in with the rest of the cast and crew.
It was a pretty simple drama; husband and wife grieving over their only son, who was brain-dead kept on ventilator due to road accident. The son who had just become a Christian had signed to donate away his organs and the parents were in a dilemma whether to honor his wish. Thru an interpolation of songs and excerpts from the Passion of Christ video, as well as a re-enactment of Jesus' crucifixation on the cross, the parents are led to understand the purpose of suffering, and the promise that God gave to the world in Jesus who came, died on Good Friday and resurrected on Easter Sunday to guarantee hope beyond tears, life beyond death. I was to play the part of the wife's Christian sister who brings them to the point of realisation to let go of their son to God, and in the process themselves come into the saving grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus.
It was a real tear-jerker, 'emo' all the way as my kids said after they saw the performance. I had thot it would be 'just acting'; after all it's 'just another story ' for 'another Easter'. But somehow as i went thru the rehearsals, God took me along a spiritual journey and gave me an experience which moved me to real tears even as i mouthed my lines. It was no longer 'just acting'. One Pastor who watched our final rehearsal commented... "you people actually cry real tears.."... it was as much a question as it was a comment.
And it was true, we cried real tears. I don’t know about the rest of the cast, indeed I don’t even know anything about acting a part. But somehow the right words just came, the tears just flowed, because God took me into the heart of my stage character who was tasked to speak a very simple message - that beyond death, there is life; beyond despair, there is hope; beyond tears, there is joy.
On the stage, I was taken back along a spiritual road, remembering Easter.. as I reminisced about my stage-nephew receiving Jesus, my mind flashed back to the time I uttered the prayer that changed my life. And I remember the pain of grieving for a husband then dying of cancer, mixed with the peace of God that flooded my soul, and so my tears flowed...
As the desperate father belted out the song lyrics to a silent God , 'can You hear me? Am i getting thru tonite?", i remember the many times i had fallen to my knees in tears of anguish over things i couldn't understand that were happening in my life, asking God the same questions, so my tears flowed again...
As the screening of the Passion of Christ synchronised with the song of Mary, mother of Jesus ..."Mary, did you know when you kissed the face of your baby, you were kissing the face of God?" i remember the amazing love of Jesus for me, me, who didn't even exist 2000 years ago, that He - the King of Glory - should become a wee little baby for my sake, forsaking heaven, and so my tears flowed afresh...
As the King of Glory hung on a cross, His body beaten, tortured and all bloody, i remember here is One who suffered for me, bearing not just my, but the world's sins, and so my tears flowed some more...
As finally He breathed out His last words "It is finished" ,familiar words memorized and sealed in the mind’s vault twisted in my heart once again , and I remember the price He paid for my life - with His own, as the Savior who died for me , and so my tears continued to flow..
Many Good Fridays and Easters have come and gone. Christians all know the blessed message of Christ coming to die on the cross, taking our sins, and being raised alive on the third day to give everlasting life to those who believe. We can get so familiar with this 'old' story we lose the wonder of it all.. that God so loved the world He sent His Son Jesus to die for us, so that whomsoever believes in Him shall never perish but have eternal life...
As i 'acted', my heart knew it wasn't 2000 years ago, it's today, everyday, the cross is before me, so that i may remember it's not just another story, it's not just another Easter...
and so my tears flowed for
Greater love hath no one than this that He lay down His life... John 15:13
Check out more fotos at this link http://www.flickr. com/photos/ danieliew/ sets/72157616759 865536/
