Today I went to the library to enjoy a quiet afternoon of reading. I still haven’t processed all of the wonderful things I learned at Training Camp last week, but I have been stuck on something that Karen Dilbeck (one of the incredible women I had the pleasure of listening to this week) said about finding Kingdom themes in secular music. I have ALWAYS been someone who has thought that this was possible and people have actually called me crazy for it. Not only do I find Kingdom themes in secular music, I also find them in movies and books! Don’t get me wrong, there are some exceptions to this.
FOR INSTANCE, I don’t think I’m going to find a Kingdom Theme in the song “Drop It Like Its Hot” by Snoop Dogg.
But you get what I’m saying, right?
M O V I N G O N
Today I was feeling particularly cultured and thought that I would dabble in some fine art created by William Shakespeare.
Me: Marissa, have you ever read Shakespeare?
Me to Me: LOL, no, who are you?
Ya girl was looking for some quality literature, okurrr!!! (and ended up reading The Magicians Nephew by C.S. Lewis for the 100th time because I lowkey couldn’t understand a lick of Shakespeare)
For some reason I decided to read the forward to, “Much Ado About Nothing”, written by Joseph Papp. In his forward he put a whole twist on how I thought about Shakespeare. Papp took me back in time and put me in the setting of Shakespeare’s life. He wrote about how he could imagine Will getting an idea about one of his plays or poems and not having the technology to write it down as soon as he thought about it. About how he would have to hurry home and blow through people with little regard because of the brilliant idea being formulated in his head but only to realize that the feather quill pen he was using, needed to be sharpened before he could even write anything down.
Then, after much speculation of William Shakespeare’s life, Joseph Papp wrote the most beautiful thing in honor of Shakespeare’s work. He said:
“His profound thoughts are often condensed into poetry, which is not as straight forward as prose. Yet when you hear the words spoken aloud, a lot of the language may strike you as unexpectedly modern. For Shakespeare’s plays, like dramatic work, weren’t really meant to be read; they were meant to be spoken, seen and performed. It’s amazing how lines that are so troublesome in print can flow so naturally and easily when spoken.”
This was literally me after I read this
Dude, come on… why is this one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever read?
I digress, I digress.
“What does that have to do with anything?”
THANK YOU FOR ASKING MY GUY, let me tell you.
You guys?! This is exactly what Karen was talking about. Finding Kingdom Themes in secular things!! Joseph Papp was talking about the pure genius, the heart and the beauty behind the words of Shakespeare and I’m over here having the same feels about God’s word.
How many times do we pick out one scripture (or Shakespeare line) and allow it to be enough fill us, when there’s actually a whole story in front of it and behind it? But all of a sudden when we happen to dive into the Word (or Shakespeare) we find a whole mess of gold nuggets? Or even if we don’t dive into it ourselves, we hear it in Sunday service (or in a library) and marvel at how good of a story it is and then think, “Wow! The Bible (or Shakespeare) actually has some cool jazz up in there.”
When Papp says, “For Shakespeare’s plays, like dramatic work, weren’t really meant to be read; they were meant to be spoken, seen and performed.” I. Was. Shooketh. BECAUSE I think this is actually so relatable when it comes to God’s Word.
Here, allow me to explain whilst paraphrasing:
“For God’s Word, like dramatic work, wasn’t only meant to be read; it was meant to be spoken, seen and performed.”
I mean COME ON SOMEBODY, HELLER? CAN I GET A WITNESS?
Let me point out three things that stuck out to me in this sentence before and after rendering it:
Shakespeare version:
1.) Dude, you can’t read my man Will’s play in your head and be all of the characters. (if you can, idk whether I should be impressed or concerned…)
2.) We all love watching movies and plays right? I mean you can read a script to a play and understand whats going on but until you hear it in person, it’ll never really hit home.
3.) Shakespeare wrote plays so that people could play a part in them and be moved by them. So, until you get someone to live out his words the play is merely sentences on paper, it has no life or tangible meaning. He wanted people to relate to his characters in a real and intimate way.
Jesus Version:
1.) God’s Word isn’t just a book that you sit and enjoy in silence for mere entertainment. It was written so that you can learn about the character of your Creator.
2.) God’s Word is meant to be SPOKEN. It is meant to be SHARED with others, that way they too can be impacted and changed by His love and truth!
3.) God’s Word was meant to be lived out by faith, essentially being seen or performed in us. That way people can see the difference that He makes in our lives.
This blog was meant to tell about what I learned at Training Camp last week, but so far this is the greatest thing that has come to mind since then… But no worries, I will be writing more about that soon!
I hope y’all enjoyed this. Thank you for reading it!
– Mariss
