March 21st
Theater Kent, the theater company that offer me so much fun, had the honour of having it’s most recent play, “The Elephant Man” being selected for a regional competition. That meant a road trip for our little company. We loaded all the stuff into a borrowed truck then made the four or five hour trek (it was much quicker in a car) all the way to our host theatre, the Roxy in Owen Sound.
Moving to a new location was, to say the least, rather stressful. While the trip itself was pretty relaxing, the actual set up in the new theatre was a great deal of work. The physical stuff wasn’t so bad. Shlepping stuff from the truck to the stage wasn’t so bad. It was physical work made easy by the banter of a group of people that worked well together and enjoyed each other’s company. Adapting the set and everything else required to make our play work was another, not so pleasant, story. Even minor differences in the layout and lighting of the new theatre were a big deal. Our Stage Manager had to rethink just about everything in order to make things work, which meant it took a long, long time to get ready.
That long, long prep time was, for me at least, rather stressful, because the more time we spent doing technical stuff, the less time we had to practice our lines and actions. It all worked out in the end, and the play was a hit, but it got me to thinking about how much work and it took to get ready compared to how much time we actually spent on stage. In fact, we spent almost twelve hours getting ready for a two hour show, just because we changed venues. That’s not counting the countless hours we had spent rehearsing and preparing for the show ahead of time. It just about makes you crazy thinking about the amount of time involved in making a show like that succeed, but that’s the way it is. A lot of time and effort go into making even the smallest things work well.
Think about how much time and effort God puts into each of our lives. Think about the history that preceded the writing of the 10 Commandments, or the effort involved in raising Christ from the dead. It’s awe inspiring when you consider what God has done and continues to do on our behalf. Even though our lives are pretty short compared to God’s infinite timeline, and even though the impact of our lives is pretty minor compared to what God can accomplish, He still takes the time to make the effort on our behalf.
None of us is to unimportant for our Heavenly Father. No life is without meaning even if it only lasts a few minutes. We might not realize it, but God puts an equal effort into each of us. What differs is our reaction to that effort. Some folks recognize His work and do their best to honour it while some deny He has any part in their lives. Those who deny Him will have a long, empty and tedious afterlife. Those who recognize and honour God, on the other hand, will see their efforts pan out in a beautiful, heavenly relationship that will last an eternity, but I’m sure will seem like an instant. At least that’s the way I see it.
Theater Kent, the theater company that offer me so much fun, had the honour of having it’s most recent play, “The Elephant Man” being selected for a regional competition. That meant a road trip for our little company. We loaded all the stuff into a borrowed truck then made the four or five hour trek (it was much quicker in a car) all the way to our host theatre, the Roxy in Owen Sound.
Moving to a new location was, to say the least, rather stressful. While the trip itself was pretty relaxing, the actual set up in the new theatre was a great deal of work. The physical stuff wasn’t so bad. Shlepping stuff from the truck to the stage wasn’t so bad. It was physical work made easy by the banter of a group of people that worked well together and enjoyed each other’s company. Adapting the set and everything else required to make our play work was another, not so pleasant, story. Even minor differences in the layout and lighting of the new theatre were a big deal. Our Stage Manager had to rethink just about everything in order to make things work, which meant it took a long, long time to get ready.
That long, long prep time was, for me at least, rather stressful, because the more time we spent doing technical stuff, the less time we had to practice our lines and actions. It all worked out in the end, and the play was a hit, but it got me to thinking about how much work and it took to get ready compared to how much time we actually spent on stage. In fact, we spent almost twelve hours getting ready for a two hour show, just because we changed venues. That’s not counting the countless hours we had spent rehearsing and preparing for the show ahead of time. It just about makes you crazy thinking about the amount of time involved in making a show like that succeed, but that’s the way it is. A lot of time and effort go into making even the smallest things work well.
Think about how much time and effort God puts into each of our lives. Think about the history that preceded the writing of the 10 Commandments, or the effort involved in raising Christ from the dead. It’s awe inspiring when you consider what God has done and continues to do on our behalf. Even though our lives are pretty short compared to God’s infinite timeline, and even though the impact of our lives is pretty minor compared to what God can accomplish, He still takes the time to make the effort on our behalf.
None of us is to unimportant for our Heavenly Father. No life is without meaning even if it only lasts a few minutes. We might not realize it, but God puts an equal effort into each of us. What differs is our reaction to that effort. Some folks recognize His work and do their best to honour it while some deny He has any part in their lives. Those who deny Him will have a long, empty and tedious afterlife. Those who recognize and honour God, on the other hand, will see their efforts pan out in a beautiful, heavenly relationship that will last an eternity, but I’m sure will seem like an instant. At least that’s the way I see it.
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