What if you threw a party and only one person came? What if only one friend attended your big stage or movie premiere or you waited hours before your debut CD sold a single copy? How would you feel? ... I remember in my high school years being part of a stage musical production: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (no, Deacon Michel did not sing or dance, I moved props). Anyway, there were so many rehearsals, and preparations made over the months before that we were (or at least I was) anxious as the big day approached: what if no one came? or just a few or only one ? It would be devastating, especially to emotionally fragile teenagers (yes, Deacon Michel was a teenager once). This memory came flooding back after all these years as Fr. Paul spoke of his role as a pastor, especially in the context of coordinationg various minitries. He said it's like being a conductor in an symphony; he has to know all the parts, bring them together and harmonize them so that it produces something beautiful for the audience. Now here's the clincher: he said we were all performing before an audience of one: - God.
Thanks for that insight and so many more Fr. Paul! As a deacon I interact with a lot of people in a variety of settings: Mass, baptisms, weddings, wake services, classes, etc. Being employed I interact with co-workers and clients, being a husband, father, sibling and relative I interact with family, and I intereact with my dear friends. In all this I'm sharing life, love, hopes, dreams, disappointment, fears and anxieties; the length, height and width of human experience. This does not make me unique for in fact we all do as part of this grand cosmic drama we call life. And we do all this before an audience of one: - God. I remember on opening night of our concert performance, constantly peeping from behind the curtains to see the hall filling up and the sense of relief that came over me. I remember the performance of a lifetime and the roar of the appreciative audience's applause. The reward of all our hard work. When my life's work, our life's work, is over and the final curtain falls I hope to hear for me and for you, shouts of 'bravo', 'well done!' Thunderous applause from the audience of One.
4 Comments
hayden patino
10/14/2010 09:53:38 pm
Duch, well said!! I will use that last paragraph to light my path in this play. As Valentino said , 'LIFE IS A STAGE AND WE ARE THE ACTORS...'.
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patches hall
11/4/2010 08:16:03 am
hI,
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1/22/2011 09:39:52 am
Neither beliver nor reject anything, because any other person has rejected of believed it. Heaven has given you a mind for judging truth and error, Use it. Do you think so?
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Hi, welcome to my weekly blog. I'm deacon Michel and I love blogging and the healthy exchange of constructive ideas. Now my mind has been known to wander on a million different things all at once so don't be surprised at what you find here. I often scratch my head and go 'Huh?' at my own thoughts. Feel free to leave a comment and share your thoughts with me.
DisclaimerThis blog reflects MY ongoing Christian journey: insights gained through the Holy Spirit, my experiences, my studies, my relationships. The content of this website is solely that of Deacon Michel du Chaussee, and does not represent the Archdiocese of Miami or any other entity of the Roman Catholic Church in any official capacity. Needless to say, I hope that none of my writings are contrary to the doctrines of faith and morals that are reflected in Sacred Tradition or as taught and guarded by the Magisterium of the Church or to the truths of God as revealed in the Holy Scriptures.
For I take seriously what a very wise man has often said to me: "Ordination is not license for private practice" - Msgr. A. Andersen Archives
November 2018
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