"No matter what, always remember that what you do is God's work. Every time you bring joy to another's life, you are doing God's work."
I did it. I was really trying not to, but today, as we all held hands during our pre-show prayer, a little tear slowly formed in my eye and leaked out over the side of my eyelid. Then, it happened again in the other eye. Before I knew it, I had tears dripping down my face. Oh God, I thought, my make-up is all ruined now. AND I look like a blubbering idiot. Who cries during prayers? Oh wait...me. We finished with an Our Father, and our usual, "I feel good. I feel great. I feel the poooooooower within." Then I opened my eyes.
For the past week, I've been fighting off the tears that build up during our director's pep talks. But really, she always makes me want to cry good tears of great feeling within. Not only was she my stage director for the past three months, but also my teacher. And yet, the hats are different. In class, sister. At practice, real, legitimate, human being. She never wore her habit to practice because...well, you can't exactly move up and down and all around the stage quickly in a skirt. Yet, there was no difference between her in class empowerment and her at practice empowerment. Whether we were being critiqued or commended, she always reminded us that we are doing God's work.
I have no words for her and yet, I have all the words in the world. She is one of the most amazing, influential, empowering women I have ever met. While at one time in my college career I actually questioned why she ever became a sister, I know how sincerely she really uplifts all the values of her religious life. She may be viewed as a little radical from her sisters, but from a college student's perspective, she is so real and alive and full of sincerity. She literally jumps right on the stage with us, act out certain parts for us, becomes one with us. There is no boundary between sister and student, it is actress to actress/actor. The mentor in her comes out only after practice.
After practice, especially the final dress rehearsals, when we have our final evaluation/pep talk. While I've heard the rumor that she can get pretty feisty when things go wrong, I can only believe that she is so passionate. Every single word that she speaks is truer because of that passion and maybe, compassion. Things go wrong, yes, but she believes in us, and you can feel that resonate all throughout you as if she is speaking only to you. She gives us our stage notes, the things we need to improve on ASAP, and then she builds up our morale.
I can't tell you how many times she has told us about the kids we would be acting for. She told us that the kids might come from rich families or might be inner city kids. Some kids might have never ever seen a show in a real theatre before while others may have gone to broadway on a yearly basis. Some kids know tragedy, real tragedy, while others only know fictional tragedy. Regardless of who they are, we are bringing them joy and joy is God's work within us.
Every time she brought up the kids, especially at our pre-show prayers, I would fight off tears. These are the kids I might teach one day. These are kids I want to get to know, to be a ray of sunshine and hope for. This is what I want to do with the rest of my life. And maybe this week, was a week where I needed those kids more than they might have needed me. They inspired me, they brought joy to my life by their laughter, their conversations, and their smiles. I guess that's why I'm an education major!
As I walking back from the show by myself in the rain today (a sad situation to most but so peaceful to me), I stumbled upon one of the other sisters on campus. Since it was Saturday she was all dressed down out of habit (which was slightly normal for me to be like, OH HEY SIS...) and we walked together, talking about the show. I told her how it was a hard decision for me to get back into theatre, but I did it. And then, I told her that the moment I got back on the stage in front of those kids, I realized how much I really missed theatre and being on the stage. Then Sister reminded me that education is more or less a stage since we are acting in front of our students! It made me think that maybe life is a stage and God is the director. However, like many actors and actresses, we can deviate from the script or even the director's notes. The director can get frustrated, but like my director, God will never lash out, or yell, or show complete forgiveness. Instead, God will empower us and then give us a second chance!! Yep, life is a stage and God is the director!! Congrats Cue and Curtain Cast of Charlotte's Web!! We did it!!
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