On the 12th service of Christmas my video director said to me…
Posted on January 5, 2008
Filed Under Generally Spiritual (few if any geek references) | Leave a Comment
If you happened to be anywhere within a parsec of our church this Christmas you probably noticed that we performed a little ditty called “Imagine Christmas.”
whoa!
A trapeze artist from California. Jugglers, tumblers, tap dancers, ballerinas, “stomp-dancers,” unicyclists…. all to a very cool version of “On the First Day of Christmas.” And that was just the warm up act–literally. The program hadn’t even started by the time they all left the stage.
Then there were the angels, suspended about 50′ above the stage, spinning and flapping their wings and talking about how excited they were that Creation was about to begin. Then there was Creation itself. Fast forward to Eve with the snake and all of creation crashing down all around them. Fast forward to two angels watching Mary with the baby Jesus.
My favorite line in the whole service was when two of the angels are watching Mary with Jesus and the taller one says to the shorter one “it’s all about second chances.”
And I saw all 12 services!!! yes! (and lots of rehearsals for that matter)
No, I was not reliving the days of Star Wars Episode 4, when “my generation” saw that movie in the theaters way too many times in a row. I saw Imagine Christmas all 12 services because I was on the video crew.
I could tell you all about the acrobatic team that featured a “silk angel”–a 20 something young lady no more than 5′ tall or so who came down from the ceiling on two silk panels–with no safety lines!–and swung out over the audience amongst other feats. I could tell you about how very funny the two actor/angels were as they talked while suspended above the stage on a cloud (they had safety lines). I could tell you about the fantastic band and the featured violinist who was amazing to listen to–and very fun to catch on video.
But this was the best part…………………………..
A friend of mine told me of how a couple he invited responded to the service. This couple on the verge of divorce. The husband very reluctantly came to the service with his wife and at first he hated everything, even the lobby outside the auditorium. But by the time the service ended, he had softened. He apologized to his wife for all of his complaining, he said that he was sorry for their problems, and he agreed to go with his wife to counseling. And he agreed to go to church with her.
And the wife, she told my friend that thanks to the Imagine Christmas service she understood for the first time why Jesus had to come to earth and die for our sins.
Please take a moment to absorb that statement.
It took two actors pretending to be angels, standing on a fake cloud one minute, then on the stage later, giving out dialog that was often funny, yet always theologically “bang on” (as my Canadian friend would say), in order for someone to get it–to understand the Gospel. Yes, that’s right. It took a “theatrical performance” for the Good News to get past the “watchful dragons” of her heart.
WOW! That alone made it all worth while. And who knows how many others were touched by God as well!!
Oh, you may be wondering, on the 12th service of Christmas just what did my video director say to me?
I don’t exactly remember…. but it was probably something like this: Gentlemen, it’s been a pleasure flying with you.
OK, OK, so he didn’t quote Tom Hanks from Apollo 13. sorry. I couldn’t help myself.
Actually, our video director said something like “It has been a great run, you have all worked very hard to make this a smooth performance, and I know that you are all very tired, but for this last audience let’s remember that these people have not seen Imagine Christmas yet. For them it is all new. Let’s concentrate one last time and make it our best. ”
And then he prayed something like this: “Lord, thanks for the great opportunity to serve you with our gifts. We know that You have something in store for each and every person coming here today. Please touch every heart in this place. ”
Hours and hours of preparation, dozens of adjustments and changes, blown queues, moments of panic and who knows how much coffee I pounded down (You see, I was on a robotic camera. It tolerates the jitters rather well…). Was it worth it? Absolutely!
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