Act Two Begins; You are On Stage

Most Sunday mornings, at church, I have a chance to meet with a group of 12 & 13 year-old young men. I’m their teacher. Some of our most recent discussions have been about God’s plan for His children; a plan that puts life in perspective and adds a clarifying dimension of meaning and purpose. In short, it just helps us make sense out of things. It helps us see the “big picture.”

To look at life only through the lens of mortality leaves many unanswered questions. It’s like going to the theatre to see a play in three acts, but showing up late and having to leave early. As a result you only get to see the second act. Imagine how many questions you would have as you watched act two: “Why is this happening now? What happened in act one that would help explain this? What am I missing? What’s the relationship between these characters? How will this be resolved in act three?”

To further the analogy, imagine how difficult it would be for an actor to portray a character effectively having only read the second act of the play. He or she would have all kinds of questions about the relationships that exist with the other characters on stage. If I were the actor my questions might be, “Where am I? Who are these people? Why are they saying or doing that? What am I supposed to do next? Is there any connection between what my character is doing now and what happens in the next act?”

We are all like that actor. By now, in our lives, we may feel comfortable with who the other characters are, but, unlike the actor, we don’t have the advantage of knowing what happens on the next page. We don’t even have a script. Would knowledge of what happened in act one be of help? Would knowledge of the author’s plan for act three help us with the choices we must make today?

In my younger years I did a lot of university and community theatre. I can easily relate to this analogy. Maybe that helps explain why, in my “middle” years, I sometimes have dreams (more like nightmares) that I am in a play, about to go on stage, but I can’t remember my lines, and to add to my anxiety and fear, I can’t find my copy of the script! Even waking up, knowing it was just a dream, doesn’t always erase the panic. It lingers. I secretly wonder whether anyone else has dreams like that. (Not so secretly anymore, right?)

Being able to see, or have faith in, the big picture, brings me reassurance and hope. The author of our story, God himself, knows all things from beginning to end. Who we are is not defined merely by what takes place between our date of birth and our date of death. That is just the “second act.” So, what happened before? What happens next? The Author knows, and He has shared with us a glimpse of the answers through prophets and recorded scripture.

Maybe that would be a good topic for my next post.

Until then,

WRB