This is the last of three entries that have been on my mind for the last month. Below are excerpts from my response to a friend's email regarding producing Passion. Be warned, it is fairly long.
You always write the most thoughtful and insightful things. I take no umbrage at answering your questions and feel no provocation, at least not in the negative sense. If you've provoked my thinking - fantastic! I'm happy to illuminate as best I can, my reasons, my vision, my goals.
The thing that struck me first from your email was the ackowledgement of my Catholic bias. You're absolutely right, I am steeped in Catholic doctrine, at least knowledge of it. I don't think I'm a very good Catholic when in comes to following all of it and I was so grateful for Dianna's input when I had her to bounce ideas off and theories around.
I am, in fact, probably much more in line with the Protestant (Reformation?) thinking about my relationship with God and Christ than what the Catholic church puts forth. As I said in a blog post, my bible reading was sorely lacking in my formative years. Yes, I know many stories but as far as the contrasts put forth between not only the four gospel writers, but the whole idea of the God of the Old Testament and the God in the New Testament, well that's relatively new to me and I'm fairly sure I have not actually reconciled the whole thing in my head.
Ironically enough, Matt just bought me a 24-lecture course in Lost Christianities and the speaker talks at length about those differences (OT vs. NT) and even more about how factions of Christianity in the 400 years following Jesus' death, had widely differing opinions - even more pronounced than today's group of denominations. Some things he puts forth include the question of belief in the divinity/humanity of Jesus and the question as to whether, as a believer, to keep or abandon Jewish laws and customs. I'm not all that many lectures in but it sure is intriguing.
To look for a Catholic church as a venue ( the second biggie of your email for me) poses some issues. First, Catholics are, in general known for some of the strictest doctrine. The church and it's proponents can be very judgemental (Catholic guilt?) and while you can find priests who are fairly modern and forward thinking, they ultimately have to answer to the chain of command. Technically speaking, I never been inside a Catholic church with stage lights and projection screens. I need those things.
One of the main reasons I wanted to adapt Passion directly from the bible is because it takes denominations and doctrine out of the picture. No one can tell me I included something trivial (really? from the Bible?) and excluded something supremely important. If I were adapting the entire ministry of Jesus, maybe, but I'm pretty sure I'm hitting all the high notes in the passion story. And really, the story I'm telling does tend to focus on Christ's humanity because that's what's accessible to us humans. There is no "God" mic, no angels, no supernatural, unless you count Jesus still being amazingly ALIVE to even experience the crucifixion after the torture and beatings inflicted upon him. So, a belief in religion, in a denomination, or even whether he really walked the earth isn't necessary to be moved by the story. For me, it's the story of a man.
And if, in telling this story I'm evangelizing, than so be it. I find it more palatable than someone spewing doctrine and rules at me, telling me if I don't fit certain criteria, I am not one of God's children and I'm destined for Hell. I think a great majority of people could use a little more spirituality, a little humility, a little compassion. But I've no compunction to aid them in their journey (other than the play) or lead them to one denomination or the other because I do believe that the most important thing is the one-on-one with God, Jesus, Allah, Yahweh, the Universe, Whatever. If one is content in life and it's one filled with integrity, generosity, humility, compassion and love, then who the hell am I to tell them they've got it all wrong?
Somewhere in the scheme of things, we need those big, confident, gregarious evangelists (Simon Peter) but I don't see Jesus as one of them. He lived his life on the fringes of society; he was abundantly blessed but possessed no hubris; and he didn't damn people who didn't believe in him.
The final thing that hit home in your email, was to take my time, a la the Sistine Chapel. And again, so insightful, you are right on target. As difficult as it was for me to cancel the piece this past January, it was absolutely the right thing to do. I had no desire to minimize, compress, or bare bones the story. And moreoever, I couldn't - not technically, not without losing my integrity.
I am confident I will produce Passion with my story and vision intact. I will find the perfect venue. It will be a huge success artistically and financially. I just need to be patient and wait for the pieces to fall into play....place.
Thank you for always giving me the opportunity to explain my choices and for making me really think about why I made them.
You always write the most thoughtful and insightful things. I take no umbrage at answering your questions and feel no provocation, at least not in the negative sense. If you've provoked my thinking - fantastic! I'm happy to illuminate as best I can, my reasons, my vision, my goals.
The thing that struck me first from your email was the ackowledgement of my Catholic bias. You're absolutely right, I am steeped in Catholic doctrine, at least knowledge of it. I don't think I'm a very good Catholic when in comes to following all of it and I was so grateful for Dianna's input when I had her to bounce ideas off and theories around.
I am, in fact, probably much more in line with the Protestant (Reformation?) thinking about my relationship with God and Christ than what the Catholic church puts forth. As I said in a blog post, my bible reading was sorely lacking in my formative years. Yes, I know many stories but as far as the contrasts put forth between not only the four gospel writers, but the whole idea of the God of the Old Testament and the God in the New Testament, well that's relatively new to me and I'm fairly sure I have not actually reconciled the whole thing in my head.
Ironically enough, Matt just bought me a 24-lecture course in Lost Christianities and the speaker talks at length about those differences (OT vs. NT) and even more about how factions of Christianity in the 400 years following Jesus' death, had widely differing opinions - even more pronounced than today's group of denominations. Some things he puts forth include the question of belief in the divinity/humanity of Jesus and the question as to whether, as a believer, to keep or abandon Jewish laws and customs. I'm not all that many lectures in but it sure is intriguing.
To look for a Catholic church as a venue ( the second biggie of your email for me) poses some issues. First, Catholics are, in general known for some of the strictest doctrine. The church and it's proponents can be very judgemental (Catholic guilt?) and while you can find priests who are fairly modern and forward thinking, they ultimately have to answer to the chain of command. Technically speaking, I never been inside a Catholic church with stage lights and projection screens. I need those things.
One of the main reasons I wanted to adapt Passion directly from the bible is because it takes denominations and doctrine out of the picture. No one can tell me I included something trivial (really? from the Bible?) and excluded something supremely important. If I were adapting the entire ministry of Jesus, maybe, but I'm pretty sure I'm hitting all the high notes in the passion story. And really, the story I'm telling does tend to focus on Christ's humanity because that's what's accessible to us humans. There is no "God" mic, no angels, no supernatural, unless you count Jesus still being amazingly ALIVE to even experience the crucifixion after the torture and beatings inflicted upon him. So, a belief in religion, in a denomination, or even whether he really walked the earth isn't necessary to be moved by the story. For me, it's the story of a man.
And if, in telling this story I'm evangelizing, than so be it. I find it more palatable than someone spewing doctrine and rules at me, telling me if I don't fit certain criteria, I am not one of God's children and I'm destined for Hell. I think a great majority of people could use a little more spirituality, a little humility, a little compassion. But I've no compunction to aid them in their journey (other than the play) or lead them to one denomination or the other because I do believe that the most important thing is the one-on-one with God, Jesus, Allah, Yahweh, the Universe, Whatever. If one is content in life and it's one filled with integrity, generosity, humility, compassion and love, then who the hell am I to tell them they've got it all wrong?
Somewhere in the scheme of things, we need those big, confident, gregarious evangelists (Simon Peter) but I don't see Jesus as one of them. He lived his life on the fringes of society; he was abundantly blessed but possessed no hubris; and he didn't damn people who didn't believe in him.
The final thing that hit home in your email, was to take my time, a la the Sistine Chapel. And again, so insightful, you are right on target. As difficult as it was for me to cancel the piece this past January, it was absolutely the right thing to do. I had no desire to minimize, compress, or bare bones the story. And moreoever, I couldn't - not technically, not without losing my integrity.
I am confident I will produce Passion with my story and vision intact. I will find the perfect venue. It will be a huge success artistically and financially. I just need to be patient and wait for the pieces to fall into play....place.
Thank you for always giving me the opportunity to explain my choices and for making me really think about why I made them.
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