Hamilton | Wayfarer

“Once the priests enter the holy precincts, they are not to go into the outer court until they leave behind the garments in which they minister, for these are holy. They are to put on other clothes before they go near the places that are for the people.”
Ezekiel 42:14 (NIV)

Theatre has been a part of my life since I was in Middle School. I’ve studied it, participated in it, produced it, directed it, and I have experienced it in countless ways as an audience member. Do you want to know what makes great theatre?

The scene changes!

One of my theatre professors and all-time great teachers drilled into me that the difference between good theatre and great theatre is in the details. He was right. One of the things that makes Hamilton such a great show is that the action never stops. One scene flows fluidly and seamlessly into the next without the audience really ever noticing. It’s brilliant in its execution and most people don’t even notice. I have nightmares about certain shows Wendy and I have experienced in which we as audience members sat silently and awkwardly in the dark for several minutes, several times over during brutally long scene changes. Those are on a short list of the worst evenings of theatre ever.

This came to mind the past few days as our chapter-a-day journey has been trekking through the prophet Ezekiel’s long, very detailed description of a Temple he was shown in a vision. The level of detail is absolutely mind-boggling, like what a priest can and can’t wear in the scene changes between different areas of the Temple. But, that’s part of the point.

The difference between good and great is in the detail, not just in theatre but in life itself, and when I begin to realize the detailed complexity of creation it begins to inform me about the Creator. In his letter to Jesus’ followers in Rome, Paul wrote: “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” God is an artist and He expresses Himself in His artwork. What’s clear to me is that He cares about the details. Jesus put it more simply when He said that even the hairs on my head are numbered (and descending, I’m afraid).

In the quiet this morning, I am – believe it or not – convicted. I am not, by nature, a “details” person. Wendy will be happy to give you a million agonizing examples. At the same time, I have learned over a lifetime that the difference between good and great is in those details both on and off stage. I don’t care if you have Dame Judi Dench in your cast, it won’t be an evening of great theatre if you screw up the scene changes.

Did you know that the first thing you learn in the military is how to make your bed?

If I want my life to be great then it starts with getting my health and finances in order, which means paying attention to what I eat, how I move, and what I spend every day. If I truly want to be more like Jesus, the author of creation, then I need to pay more attention to the details of my everyday life.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God.
2 Chronicles 14:2 (NIV)

Yesterday Wendy and I joined our friends in jumping on the Hamilton bandwagon. A regional touring production of the popular Broadway show about one of America’s founding fathers opened in Des Moines yesterday. The bottom line: Yes, it’s as good and amazing as everyone says it is.

Last night in bed Wendy was reading through different blog posts and articles about the places the hip-hop operetta strays from the facts of history. To be honest, I considered most of them to be nothing more than the typical ways writers are required to take license with history in order to tell one man’s life story in less than three hours on stage and to entertain the audience at the same time. I guarantee you that Hamilton has done more to motivate a generation of young people to dig into America’s history than any high school history teacher could do.

This morning as I read today’s chapter, the first of three chapters on the life of Judah’s King Asa, I thought about chroniclers of history whether they be relating stories via papyrus scroll, published novel, text book, research paper, or Broadway musical. The motivations and mediums may differ, but at a basic level the writers are all taking a lifetime of facts and reducing them into their own retelling.

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, the books of 1 Chronicles and 2 Chronicles were written at a time when Hebrew exiles had left the land of their captors in Babylon and returned to their homeland to rebuild and restore their country. The people, who’d been living in Babylon for a generation, are now staring at the rubble of Jerusalem and the rubble of Solomon’s Temple and they’re asking themselves all sorts of questions. Are we still connected to our history? Are we still connected to the God of our ancestors? Do we cling to the stories and faith of our ancestors, or do we ignore them and start over?

As I read through the accounts of the Kings of Judah written by the Chronicler I begin to see patterns. As noted in the past couple of weeks, the Chronicler is putting a positive perspective on the historical record. I can almost feel him encouraging his contemporary readers to dig-in, reconnect with their history, and celebrate their heritage just as Hamilton has done for our generation of Americans. He is also presenting a very simple, cause-and-effect story line. The kings who served God succeeded. The kings who abandoned God, worshipped idols, or were otherwise unfaithful experienced disaster and failure.

As I pondered this simple, cause-and-effect pattern I couldn’t help but think of Parson Weems who gave Americans the story of George Washington and the Cherry Tree. The story was less about historical fact and more about teaching a moral lesson. Please don’t read what I’m not writing. The Chronicles are historical retelling (not fables as is Pastor Weems stories), but I can feel in the pattern of the Chronicler’s retelling that there is a moral lesson he wants his readers to catch: Follow God and be blessed. Abandon God and be cursed. It’s a good moral lesson. However, in the quiet this morning I’m looking back and finding that along my Life journey I’ve observed that Life does not always break down into simplistic, dualistic terms.

This morning I’m thinking about all the lessons that history has to teach us. After the show last night Wendy and I joined our friends for a spirited conversation over dinner about history, stories, and the wide-range of areas into which Hamilton poked and prodded our thoughts. The Chronicles, similarly, provide historical stories and lessons for us to take an apply to our daily journey some 2500 years later; Lessons that, like life itself, can at once be both remarkably simple and amazingly complex.