Benedicamus Domino!
Today being Good Friday for many Christians, I thought I'd write about something which was and strangely still is for me one of the many fascinating stops along my own road to Emaus and a true meeting with Christ. This is the musical or "rock opera" called Jesus Christ Superstar, written by Andrew Lloyd Webber. This was long before The Phantom of the Opera and certainly long before his current hit: The Wizard of Oz. I received it as a gift during a time when I was enamoured with Webber's more modern musicals, and when I get so intrigued, I always feel it necessary to learn more than just what is current with a given artist, author or composer, and besides, I had occasionally heard the title song on the radio and rather liked it, so I asked for the recording of the musical as a gift.
What I got was the sound track of the 1973 film version, and while it left something to be desired in terms of truly wonderful singing and such, there was something fierce in it, something real. A lot of movie versions of musicals come off rather wooden and flat when compared to the theatrical production, but this one, at least for me, had something that I've not found in even the best recordings of the actual Broadway musical. I guess it brought the events leading up to the crucifiction to life in such an interesting way that it made me really think about what Good Friday means, and for a girl of fourteen, that was a revelation.
Now, twenty years later, I of course don't believe in how Christ is portrayed at many points in the musical, but it still holds a strange fascination for me and I was glad to find the original, unremastered movie sound track, scratchy audio and all, just recently for my computer music collection. I've been getting rid of cassettes as I don't use them anymore, but that one having vanished was a bit of a sadness to me. It just goes to show you that God can use anything to help to bring a person closer to Him. Heck! I bet there have even been some people who became Christian due to Monty Python's Life of Brian! "Always look on the bright side of life!" These kinds of things have often been called irreverent by Christians, and perhaps they are in some ways, but I really believe that even seeming irreverence can actually be a kind of honour and worship, or by its very nature as a kind of foil to the truth, can actually point out the truth to a listening soul and an open heart.
For instance, I attended a church some weeks ago where worship songs were the order of the day. There have been people who have called them irreverent. Yes, songs based on scripture, simply because they have a rock-'n'-roll beat, have been called irreverent! Now, while I don't think they have a place in the kind of church services I attend, I don't think them irreverent! They simply are what they are, and I'm sure their composers wrote them with care and attention. They may not be my particular cup of tea, but does that mean I should simply damn them? God forbid! For me, Jesus Christ Superstar was a way to God. Who knows what will lead others to Him?
And on that note, I wish a blessed Good Friday to all who celebrate it at this time, and a truly joyful celebration of Christ's Resurrection on Sunday!
Deo Gratias!
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