JCS to A.HAM - A Musical Oddesy

In the summer of 1973, I listened to a double album that "rocked" my world. At a church retreat, our youth leader played through the soundtrack to "Jesus Christ, Superstar", and went through the different scriptural references in each song. Up until that time, Broadway and Movie Musicals were basically the same; story lines built up to lead the characters into song. (One of the reasons many people don't like musicals, they will say "People don't just burst out into song!" Any musician and their significant other will realize the fallacy of that statement! But I digress.) JCS evened out the playing field by having everything in song, much like an opera.

This was an opera like no other, though. Guitars wailing, drums beating, Ted Neely and Carl Anderson screaming notes so high only dogs should have been able to hear. And the story Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber told became different in their hands. Never again would I hear the story in hushed monotones of Shakespearean English. They put PASSION into the Passion. I will still listen to the soundtrack around Easter each year, and the instrumental section on the crucifixion, led by Andre' Previn's magnificent direction, will still raise goosebumps on my arms.

Fast forward 44 years. Just this week, a friend loaned me a copy of Hamilton: An American Musical. And I was thirteen all over again. The mastery of music telling a true story, the obvious talent in the writing, arranging, and production. And the singers/actors themselves, bringing the story of Alexander Hamilton to life. But what made me go back was the true PASSION with which the story was told. So many times we look at history as only dates and body-less facts. History isn't about the thumb tacked dates on a time line, it's about the lives lived between those dates. The love, the hurt, the joy, the life. And Hamilton brings that out with exuberance.

In that same way, Religion isn't so much about do's and don'ts, rights or wrongs. They are there, yes, to give us a model by which we can live by, but the law is secondary to WHO the law points us too. Just as in History, dates and mere facts are secondary to the lives lived, so are laws meaningless without the LIFE lived, Jesus, for without HIM, there is no salvation. No law can save, only Jesus. The law can help us be more like Him, but only He can make the true transformation.

In the summer of 1973, that began to become real to me in ways I never imagined. The Bible began to turn from a rule book, into a love story, of which I was the object of affection. And I was loved with PASSION. Enough so that God's only begotten son, Jesus, gave His life for me. We will never be perfect, as He is perfect, even though we should strive to perfection. But we are loved. With passion. Let us love Him, and each other, with nothing less.

Freedom - A History

Freedom - such an incredible concept. A word that inspires, motivates, excites, even promotes sacrifice to the ultimate. The decision to break free from England was not without soul searching, heart wrenching, second and third thoughts, and yes, blood. Because of that, this freedom is precious to us all, and will not be given up to any outside person or government. Any threat, foreign or domestic, will be faced, and God willing, defeated.

Freedom, however, is not free. With great freedom comes great responsibility. Freedom without responsibility results in chaos. Freedom of speech without responsibility results in lies spread as truth, and hatred of another because of race, sex or creed becomes a "right". Freedom of assembly without responsibility becomes mob rule, with violence, injury, even death, a natural outcome. Freedom to bear arms, without responsibility, will create a vigilante society, in which all, in order to defend against irrational men, BECOME irrational men.

In 1776, a group of men gathered together and signed a document written by Thomas Jefferson, declaring their independence from England and their freedom to enjoy their God given rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Thirteen independent, sovereign states (read countries), united as one to become free. Problems soon started rising out of this "confederation" of states however, as each state had its own militia, each had its own trade and tariffs, each even had its own separate monies The alliance, held together by some loosely binding "Articles of Confederation" was in danger of falling apart. (Sound familiar - EU?) There was a need to create a new government, binding the colonies together as a republic, and overseeing them all, to ensure the preservation of this new union.

This was not achieved without much turmoil. These individual states would not give up their sovereign status without a fight. In order to agree to form as a union under federal control, certain rights had to be guaranteed, to insure no loss of the freedoms they had just won, no chance they were just trading one tyranny for another. Many states refused to sign this Constitution unless those freedoms were in writing. Even then, they could not all agree on what should be listed, wanting to be sure no state had more power than another.

Finally, after much debate, consultation and compromise, a set of 10 amendments, a "Bill of Rights", was drafted, and agreed to. The importance of these rights cannot be over estimated, becoming the first 10 amendments of this great blueprint of a new government. A Constitution for the United States of America.

Those freedoms are possible because of the strength of the government enforcing them. That government is strong because of the laws, fairly administered, in the articles that follow those rights. They were forged in turbulent times, creating a living document that can and must be adaptable to each generation, in order to preserve the freedoms it protects.

We are once again in turbulent times. It is time for rational men and women to discuss, to argue, to compromise, to find adaptable frameworks to ensure the freedoms we enjoy. Only by finding common ground, and standing together, will we ensure these freedoms for the next generation. To do so will require respect, even in disagreement. It will require solidarity as Americans, not political parity. It will come with turmoil, and conflict and passion. Passion with a fire that will forge a strength to last another 240 years, and more. Happy Birthday America. May God bless you.