Savior of the World

I hadn't seen the play Savior of the World in at least five years, so I was very excited to be invited to the play on Saturday afternoon. It was the special performance they put on specifically for deaf and blind patrons; there were monitors with closed captioning and sign language interpreters.

I forgot how much I love this play. I listen to the soundtrack quite often. The first act explores the events leading up to Jesus Christ's birth, starting with the angel Gabriel's visit to John the Baptist's dad and ending with the shepherds visiting the newborn Savior. The second act skips over the Savior's entire life, and begins with the apostles and women mourning His death. It then talks about all of the people who saw and spoke with him after He rose from the dead, and the concept that He will return again. It's really cool.

My favorite song is the one the shepherds sing to Psalm 23 (the one that starts "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want). As soon as the actors started to sing that song, I started to cry... and I continued to cry through the rest of the first act. I love the shepherds! What a great blessing to be the first to know of the Savior's birth -- to hear the angels sing, and meet the infant Savior and His parents, and deliver the news to everyone that He had been born! I love the way that scene is written, and I love thinking that I might have been one of the angels who sang in that choir when Christ was born. I might not have been... but I might have!

I was struck again as I have been before watching this play that the Jews (as I understand it) were waiting for the Messiah to come and deliver them from bondage. They wanted the Savior to use His power to drive the oppressive Romans out of Jerusalem and free the Jews. They felt that salvation was very do-able and as long as they followed all of the rules they would qualify for all of the blessings. By waiting for this Deliverer to come out of the sky and perform these big, flashy miracles, they totally missed the humble baby, little boy, and then grown man who walked about healing the sick and teaching peace and forgiveness. They couldn't understand that the faith His followers displays was such a big part of His miracles. He wanted to save their souls more than getting rid of their oppressors. Teach them to control what they can and not worry about what they can't.*

Are we much different than the ancient Jews?

I mean, how often do we (or at least I) ignore the wonderful little miracles He gives me each day and complain that the big blessings I am praying and working for just aren't coming soon enough or in a form that I recognize. He will tell us and show us what to do, but we have to take care of ourselves as much as we can and let Him do the rest. After all, I appreciate things I've worked for much more than those that are handed to me. But at the same time, I'm impatient! I want my big blessings now and I want them the way I want them!

(How's that for vague?)

At least the Jews were consistent about following all of the traditions and rules. I still struggle to read the scriptures every day and get my visiting teaching done! I could learn a lot from them.

As I watched the second act of the play, I really thought I was going to make it without crying. And then, during the last song "Jesus Once of Humble Birth" the cast turned to the audience, and started signing the words as they sang. I bawled. It was amazing! It was a reminder that Jesus will help all of us no matter our situation. I talked to one of the cast members later, and they said they'd learned the sign language just for that one performance. I am so glad that I got to experience that performance! And I am grateful for the reminder that I'm not alone in my trials. The Savior is aware of me and doing what He needs to help me do what I need to do and become who I am supposed to be.

I thought of that as I slid and spun on the street behind the Conference Center thirty minutes after the play ended. It was a pretty big miracle that I didn't hit anyone and neither I nor my car were harmed at all physically. It was a huge reminder that even though I'm a grown up and I have to do a lot of things alone, there are many things I cannot control. I need to have more faith in more aspects of my life and let Him take care of me, because I know that He will.

*I apologize sincerely if I have offended any Jewish readers. That was definitely not my intent. Just trying to apply my very limited knowledge about the ancient culture to my modern life :)