The Death and Resurrection Show

I'm not exactly sure what that title means - it's a phrase I hear Caroline Casey refer to on occasion, and also the title of a novel, and even a song, I think. But it makes me think of Jesus Christ Superstar.

To say JCS is my favorite musical would actually be a huge understatement. To say it's is my favorite music also mis-represents the case, although in a different way. I'll explain it, as best I can, this way: Have you ever had something, maybe a movie, or work of art, or view, or moment during church, or a performance, or whatever it may be, that really moved you? And I don't mean just moved you a little, or a lot, but really moved you in the more literally sense - it affected your life in some way, enough so that the trajectory changed, noticeably. People use different phrases - an epiphany, illumination, revelation, satori - but the actual word doesn't matter so much. I think you probably know the sort of moment I mean.

One of reasons I like film in general so much is that I've had, more than once, an epiphany from it; or not, actually, from a film, but a film will be the catalyst, or the theme, the artistic slant of that particular period of enlightenment in my life. Not always a great film, either - I mean, it happened once with X-Men for God's sake (and yes, if you must know, it was me getting in touch with the sort of "tougher" and more demanding "Wolverine" side of my nature - embarrassing, maybe, but immensely helpful nonetheless in my personal growth process). The dictionary definition suggests this might not be such an uncommon occurrence:

Epiphany: a sudden, intuitive perception of or insight into the reality or essential meaning of something, usually initiated by some simple, homely, or commonplace occurrence or experience.

See what I mean? It doesn't have to be something grand. In my case, the occurrences have been commonplace but also been non-commonplace events. It is sometimes a piece of art or music, like....Jesus Christ Superstar. JSC has been a part of my life since I was a kid - my mother used to teach guitar lessons and I'm sure I remember strangers in the house trying to make it through I Don't Know How to Love Him. I saw the show when I was younger more than once - it was popular in the sort of "contemporary" Christian circles I grew up in. I even saw A few more well-known productions - with Ted Neeley, the "original" Jesus, and one with Dennis DeYoung from STYX as Pontious Pilate. Heady stuff, that. Although my favorite two productions - and two of my very favorite things I have ever experienced - were relatively small, unknowns, in the South Bay, that had in common this one fantastic singer who played Judas in one production, and was the Jesus in the next (versatile guy), and oddly, both productions were satori-inducing.

And so today, Easter (the first Sunday after the first full moon after the first day of Spring) seemed like a good time to at least think about the death and resurrection show. I mention satoris and illumination because I think they are integral to the death and resurrection show that I suspect existence really is. The Eastern religions call it samsara, the great cycle of birth, death & rebirth. I don't know about the specifics of reincarnation, per se, but I am pretty convinced that that ALL energy (souls, spirits, whatever you like to call them...Orson Scott Cards used the made-up word aiua, meaning "the innermost self, the will of any living object in our universe", and like epiphany, I'm not sure the specific word matters too much, if you know what I mean), all energy recycles....We run around & around the universe in the great game of hide & seek all the time. And I'm fairly certain that, just in the same way that light doesn't exist without dark, so life does not exist with death.

And so, it really is the death and resurrection show. We humans are not so good with recognizing this idea of balance. We are always grabbing at the light, and getting grumpy when the dark shows up. "Only fun," we cry, "No misery!" We want to relax, after all. We don't want to be bummed out, if we can help it. I mean, I don't like being bummed out, myself, really. But I'm working on it, working on just being with what is, and not tossing any experience so quickly into the "good" bucket or "bad" bucket. In fact, let's not even have buckets!

I heard a new phrase recently that made instant sense the moment I heard it, even though I encountered it out of context: arguing with reality. As my friend D said, "And we know who wins that argument." We do, indeed.

At any rate, happy death & resurrection day! What a nice thing to celebrate, don't you think?