An Audience of One

Aesthetically pleasing and economically viable sea urchins 

He stared at me in amazement and I stared back. 

“Where were you?” I scream whispered at a fresh faced youth donned in a skirt, wearing long haired wig bedecked with a crown of seashells. 

“I was helping my friend!” He whispered just as intensely, “He was upset!”

“THAT…IS …NOT…YOUR…JOB!” I scream scolded, “You almost missed your cue!”

“Yes, sort of …” Was the reply from the King of the Sea. 

“I love you!  Go away and pay attention,” were my last words before I turned away and grabbed the headset from the table.  While turning, I bumped into a 9 year old pulling a curtain roughly 10 times her body weight.  “Sorry little one,”  I whispered patting her shoulder.  “Good job.”

Yes indeed.  I am navigating the world of backstage drama and no, I’m not using metaphors.  It’s show time in my community and I’m having a bit of trouble keeping up with the giftedness swirling around me.  On the night in question, I managed to:  lose a stagehand  during intermission because socializing with friends is awesome, misplace another on stage, where he rode out a scene under a kitchen counter, leave a banquet chair in an undersea lair, zip a stuck zipper on a fish and injure myself on a delightfully constructed toothpick sea urchin.  And that was Act 2.  I’m choosing not to remember Act 1.   

Community life is not for cowards.

My summary statement is that drama is a very dramatic medium, where souls are bared and so are attitudes.   Observation is a powerful teacher and how someone gets along with others during times of heightened anxiety will teach you a great deal about a person. 

Days before the show opened, I had the joy of chatting with a dear woman who knows a lot about prolonged anxiety.  I asked her to meet with me because I needed two things; logistical help solving a problem and some spiritual input on a problem that wasn’t going away.  Her words stuck with me this week, as opening night came and went, applause rang in the air and people enjoyed the harvest of hard work. 

“During the times I was suffering, I spent a lot of time focusing on the concept of an audience of one.  When it is hard to do the right thing, I remember that I do have an audience and what He sees is the only thing that really counts.”

It was an interesting statement to contemplate as the curtain opened to a sold out show. 

I go through many of life’s dramatic moments wanting to be understood, heard and seen.  I prefer a speaking part, where I can control the narrative and paint myself as the sympathetic hero.  But what happens when the dialogue is overtaken by someone whose interests are not the same as my own?  Or who doesn’t speak the truth?  Am I able to continue to act in a way that is pleasing to the Lord?  When the scene changes and my audience has moved on to other things, do I have the character to continue unseen?

You my dear friend are seen by your Creator.  What you do matters.  When you refuse to return evil for evil, heaven notices.  You are playing to an audience of one.  Don’t give up your role.  Don’t go silent.  Continue to praise, continue to worship.  When the audience leaves, keep going, stay onstage, fulfill your responsibilities and , be all that your role requires.

I’m praying for you,

Break a leg.

xoxKaren