Be Bold

I had the opportunity to witness something really cool a few weeks ago. As most of you know, I seem to slave my life away at the Murray Outdoor Amphitheater. And in doing so I get to brush shoulders with a lot of different people, mostly of which are actors. During the performance of The Sound of Music I met a truly remarkable lady.

She is a short, plump lady who is very sweet and kind. If she ever bumped into you she would be the first to apologize and would quickly bustle on her way to get ready for her next scene. She didn’t have a major part in the play. She didn’t even have any lines. But she played her part as a nun in the abbey well and had a solid dynamic voice that fit into the nun choir beautifully.

The only thing that set this lady apart from all the others in the cast was she was completely blind. In all of her scenes she would be standing very close and holding loosely onto another nun’s robes or linking arms to insure she was staying in sync with the others, or not wandering to the 7 foot drop into the orchestra pit. She would come out for curtain call by herself with her white cane feeling the floor for objects and would always receive significant applause as the audience realizes she is blind. The directors were always stressing the importance of a brisk curtain call. Because of this, one night this lady was walking too fast and tripped over a set piece and fell very hard onto the stage. A gasp from the audience was clearly heard through the clapping. But even still, this lady picked herself back up and continued walking to her spot on side stage by the other actors.

The more I thought about this the more I was amazed. What a huge amount of courage this lady has. The only knowledge she had on that stage was the knowledge of what she had been told to do. She had learned the songs by heart, she knew who would guide her as she walked on stage, and she knew the voices of the people and music that would cue her to act.

I mow lawns. Mowing lawns does not require much brain activity. So I have had a lot of time to find parallels in my life with this story. But in reality we are all that blind lady on a stage. We came to this earth and were taught the plain and simple truths of life. We know what we believe. We know the voice of the spirit who will guide us in righteousness. And we know what is right and wrong and the ways we should act.

And similar to that blind lady, we cannot see who is watching us. But we must have faith that they are in the seats cheering us on every day as we step onto the stage. Our friends and family for generations in the past and in the future are in the stands watching our every move and cheering for us every step of the way. Occasionally we are thrown a chance to let go of the hand that guides us and be independent of parent’s testimonies or church leader’s recommendations. Though we may bruise our shins and fall at times, the people in the stands understand and are still cheering for us regardless.

Most important of all, our Father is in those stands watching us also. He fully understands how confusing this life is and how easy it is to get lost. But he is the author of the script. And knows how significant our one roll is to the outcome of the main plot. So we must be bold on our stage. And not be afraid to fall. The Father knows of our hardships and knows it’s difficult. But if we hit it with all we’ve got he’s promised we will succeed.

Sorry to get all churchy on all of you! But I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about this and I hope you’ve all enjoyed it. And sweet! I’m totally prepared the next time I’m asked to talk in sacrament meeting!