We saw Godspell this past weekend, put on by a community theatre group about an hour from here. It was probably the fifth or sixth time I have seen it in my life. Godspell is a show that it seems like every director wants to put their own spin on. The truths in the show, though, ring bright and clear regardless. The storyline from Matthew has built-in flexibility for eternity, with the ability to put the same principles and songs into different settings.

I probably had not seen a production of Godspell for ten or so years so. Maybe it's common today and I just don't know it but this director had added in many contemporary things including parodies of "Family Feud" and "Deal or No Deal". Those things probably help to drive the connection with today's audience and, though they aren't necessary for me, they do make the show fun. I must confess, even though I was just six years old when 1970 rolled around and we welcomed a new decade, I consider myself to be, at least a little bit, a child of the 60s. So, I can handle, even revel in, the rainbow clothes, the afro wigs, and peace signs. Not a problem for me if you want to include them but it also wasn't a problem that this production left them out.

Regardless of the staging, the principles from Matthew of love, forgiveness, morality, and community still shine through as things we should all strive for. They are not just left-over ideas from the Flower Power era but they are real principles for life taught to us in the parables Jesus told. Perhaps it's easy to think of Godspell as a "60s thing" so we can rack it up to being just part of a bygone era. That way we can shield ourselves from the fact that we're missing the boat which was sailed for us by Jesus on the Sea of Galilee 2000 years ago.

I must confess that I teared up more than once during this production of Godspell. Any staging of Jesus' crucifixion always gets to me. And, maybe it seems silly but there were other parts and songs that got to me as well. I just couldn't help thinking about the fact that, these ideas which seem to be very 60s and early 70s were cast for us 2,000 years ago. I look around my town, state, country, and the world today, though, and realize just how badly we're missing the mark.