My moment as a prostitute
I was asked to be the liturgist in my church the last Sunday of June. This was a knee-knocking, hands shaking, why did I drink so much tea and irritate my nervous bladder kind of moment for me. I survived. I sat down quickly. But my voice was clear and strong when it needed to be and I would be happy to do this again.
Just before that service began, I was asked by one of my pastors if I would do a dramatic reading the following Sunday--July 2. I agreed. I wondered, too, who had told her I would be a good candidate. Then, once I read the scripture and reading, wondered who thought I would be a good candidate to play the prostitute!
Unbeknownst to me, I was one of four dramatic readers and we constituted the sermon for this day that traditionally has low attendance. There was the Pharisee, the prostitute, the beggar, and the boy who had but a loaf of bread and a few fishes to feed thousands.
We were given latitude to give as much or as little drama to our reading. I was second in the order of the service. If you recall the story, the prostitute washes Jesus' feet with her tears, soothes them with an ointment she has brought, and then dries his feet with her hair. The Pharisee, of course, is shocked that Jesus would allow one of those outcasts to care for him in this way. The readings were excerpted from the book, It Happened upon a Miracle by C. David McKirachan.
Two Wednesdays preceding the July 2 service, I lost my voice. I had been battling a summer cold and allergies (the cottonwood season had just finished but we still had piles of fluff hovering in front of our noses and eyes--add to that a Labrador that's shedding and two cats!) I regained it for the most part, but the low pitch, hoarseness, and breathy, soft voice probably enhanced my character.
One line in particular stood out for me, although many touched me personally. It was "Passion without meaning is sad and wasteful." I have done some foolish things recently-after three years of celibacy following my third divorce, I very nearly gave up waiting for Mr. Right (not Mr. Perfect, but Mr. Right for Me) and nearly gave up to accept Mr. Right Now and Mr. Right Enough. I think I was in shock, stunned by my own behavior. Then came this opportunity to serve by playing the role of a reformed prostitute.
Most important was the required reading and rereading of the scripture and the author's interpretation through the eyes of one player in this drama. For the prostitute, her world, her desire to do business, changed when she met Jesus. Her act of washing his feet was a selfless one--something she could do for someone to whom she felt she owed so much and who had given her life meaning--no longer sad and wasteful. When Jesus defended her to the Pharisee, He made manifest his love for her, as she was, with her history, but also her intent and her desire to serve.
The closing line of the reading is the avowal by the prostitute, "I am valuable." In my foolish inclinations, and often enough we all do this, I had discredited and ignored my own value. But Jesus never discards us or our little lives. We are valuable because He loves us. And I am grateful for that and this opportunity that reminded me once again of His love for us.
Just before that service began, I was asked by one of my pastors if I would do a dramatic reading the following Sunday--July 2. I agreed. I wondered, too, who had told her I would be a good candidate. Then, once I read the scripture and reading, wondered who thought I would be a good candidate to play the prostitute!
Unbeknownst to me, I was one of four dramatic readers and we constituted the sermon for this day that traditionally has low attendance. There was the Pharisee, the prostitute, the beggar, and the boy who had but a loaf of bread and a few fishes to feed thousands.
We were given latitude to give as much or as little drama to our reading. I was second in the order of the service. If you recall the story, the prostitute washes Jesus' feet with her tears, soothes them with an ointment she has brought, and then dries his feet with her hair. The Pharisee, of course, is shocked that Jesus would allow one of those outcasts to care for him in this way. The readings were excerpted from the book, It Happened upon a Miracle by C. David McKirachan.
Two Wednesdays preceding the July 2 service, I lost my voice. I had been battling a summer cold and allergies (the cottonwood season had just finished but we still had piles of fluff hovering in front of our noses and eyes--add to that a Labrador that's shedding and two cats!) I regained it for the most part, but the low pitch, hoarseness, and breathy, soft voice probably enhanced my character.
One line in particular stood out for me, although many touched me personally. It was "Passion without meaning is sad and wasteful." I have done some foolish things recently-after three years of celibacy following my third divorce, I very nearly gave up waiting for Mr. Right (not Mr. Perfect, but Mr. Right for Me) and nearly gave up to accept Mr. Right Now and Mr. Right Enough. I think I was in shock, stunned by my own behavior. Then came this opportunity to serve by playing the role of a reformed prostitute.
Most important was the required reading and rereading of the scripture and the author's interpretation through the eyes of one player in this drama. For the prostitute, her world, her desire to do business, changed when she met Jesus. Her act of washing his feet was a selfless one--something she could do for someone to whom she felt she owed so much and who had given her life meaning--no longer sad and wasteful. When Jesus defended her to the Pharisee, He made manifest his love for her, as she was, with her history, but also her intent and her desire to serve.
The closing line of the reading is the avowal by the prostitute, "I am valuable." In my foolish inclinations, and often enough we all do this, I had discredited and ignored my own value. But Jesus never discards us or our little lives. We are valuable because He loves us. And I am grateful for that and this opportunity that reminded me once again of His love for us.
posted by Cecilia Ann | 9:12 PM
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