I, Paul
This play is an hour and fifteen minutes long with a slightly abbreviated version for young audiences. Paul begins from his cell in Rome. We find him dictating a letter to Timothy, "I am already being poured out like a libation and the time of my departure is at hand...." From there he takes us to Jerusalem for his instructions to become a rabbi, and his description of St. Stephen's stoning. Then off to Damascus where he meets Jesus on the road. He takes us by the hand and leads us through his letters all along the path he trod. From Damascus we go back to Jerusalem where Paul receives orders to embark on his first missionary journey. He`says while waiting for the ship to embark from Selucia that,"if only for an instant, I heard the entire earth groaning as if in labor, longing for the birth that had already begun, pleading for transformation."
From Selucia St. Paul travels to Galatia where he describes the difficulties the early church had trying to reconcile itself with the old Jewish laws and customs. St. Paul anguishes over his clear understanding of what was meant by a "New Covenant", and the stubborn desire of his fellow Jews to adhere to what was to him an obstacle to oneness with Christ through the Holy Spirit. He speaks out boldly when he explains the fruits of the Spirit by saying,"I have been crucified with Christ, yet I live, not as I , but Christ lives in me."
I, Paul (con't)
From Galatia St. Paul takes us to Macedonia and Filipii. Here he retells the story of the massive earthquake that freed him and his friends from the roman prison, but even more important he tells us about Lydia and her conversion. It is at this time in the play that Paul reveals his inner most feelings about how we can say, and what happens when we repeat the words,"Jesus Christ is Lord!" "It brings us to our knees, it ennobles our lips, it fills us with life, strength, hope, and meaning each time we proclaim, as Lydia did on the banks of this nearly forgotten river, that...."
Our last and most poignant stop with St. Paul is Corinth. St. Paul suffered for the Corinthians because of their affinity for distractions. The many factions the Corinthians were forming makes Paul rage. "Valuing only the perishable gifts, the tongues, the prophesies, the healing's, you have abandoned the unity of your shared loaf and shared cup the imperishable gift to with and with which God has called you." Before we leave Corinth St. Paul holds the Crucifix high in the air and leaves us with the eternal question, "Is Christ divided?"
In the end St. Paul leaves us with a great comfort. The comfort that Christ gave St. Paul with His presence in his cell before walking to his execution. "What will....separate us....from the love of Christ?"
"Will anguish or persecution or famine or nakedness or the SWORD?"
St. Paul remains as we breath, "A slave of my Lord Christ Jesus!"
The greatest compliment I ever received after this performance was from a workboat builder from Tilghman Island, Maryland. He stood up in the front pew after the folks had stopped applauding and said,"You know I have been reading the Letters of St. Paul all my life, but I never understood him until now."
Pretty cool.
