I've been away on vacation for a little time and had the chance to catch an Off-Broadway production of Thorton Wilder's Our Town. It's one my favorite plays and this particular company does an excellent job. The play culminates with the death of Emily Webb/Gibbs and her reflection upon life in her hometown, Grover's Corners. She's given a chance to go back to a day in her life -- her 12th birthday -- to remember how life really was. She's stabbed by the joy of seeing her childhood home and her young parents. But she's saddened by how we brush past each other without really noticing. In her monologue she says, "It goes so fast; we don't have time to look at one another ... Oh earth, you're too wonderful for anyone to realize you." She turns to the stage director and asks, "Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it -- every, every minute?" "No," the stage director responds, "the saints and the poets maybe, they do some."
Maybe it's because I'm on vacation ... but the truth of Wilder's play sinks in more deeply than it ever has. We are so busy moving life along that we don't see each other. We don't ponder each other. We don't give ourselves the chance to take it all in. Maybe it was never meant to be. Maybe it's just another example of how small we really are in the midst of the the grand experience of life. Time rolls on and with it the opportunities that God would give us to savor. But the savoring comes never in the moment. The world at hand is too wonderful to realize. Savoring come in the remembering. This is grace. Grace comes when we remember.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
While some days can be excruciating long, life itself is unexpectedly short. Cherish each day and give thanks and all the glory to God for the abundant gifts that fill our lives. Thanks Steve, great blog!
ReplyDeleteMany decades ago, while still in high school, I played the role of "Rebecca" in Wilder's "Our Town". It was a powerful experience in that it drove home the importance of attempting to savor the moments. I've tried to do this throughout my life, and while you can to a certain extent, it is true that savoring comes in the remembering. Praise God for giving us the wonderful gift of remembering . . . not just the sweet moments of an infant hand wrapped around your finger, but the moments of refining, where we walk through valleys and learn to further lean on Him.
ReplyDelete