Drama Appreciation
When I was a student at the University of Georgia, I took a class called “Drama Appreciation.” The purpose of the class, I suppose, was to give non theatre majors an appreciation of the performing arts.
I went to my drama appreciation class most days, gave the class minimal outside effort and made a “B” in the class. I cannot say that the class gave me a greater appreciation of the performing arts but I did go to New York once, saw a Broadway play and enjoyed the trip.
I also have enjoyed the performances of the Monticello Little Theatre from time to time. John Copelan, the director of the Little Theatre, always seems to know what appeals to our local audiences and it is a treat to see the folks with whom I live and work perform on stage.
Clearly drama can be entertaining, be it on stage, in film or on television. Some use drama as a means to convey messages of great social importance. There are even churches that use drama from to time to deliver the gospel message. Drama has an important function in life.
That said, there is one place in which we could all use a little less drama and that is in everyday life. While attending Saturday’s UGA football game, I ran into my old UGA classmate and friend Ronnie Bird. Ronnie is a great fellow and I am very fond of Ronnie and his family.
When we were in school at the University I had a nickname for Ronnie. I called him the “Blender” because he was always “stirring up something.” Ronnie meant no harm with his shenanigans and never hurt anyone. Ronnie’s antics were more comedic than dramatic. However, there are a lot of folks in the world who are always “stirring up something,” who have less noble intentions.
The truth is there are some people in the world who cause turmoil and strife everywhere they go. I’ve shared this story with my congregation and in a few other venues but the story is worth repeating. My friend Bill Kelly has a brother-in-law who was attending medical school in Charleston when Hurricane Hugo approached in 1989.
Bill’s brother-in-law collected his family and left Charleston heading up Interstate 26 to Columbia and then proceeded up Interstate 77 into Charlotte where they settled into a Holiday Inn in Charlotte.
Meanwhile Hurricane Hugo slammed into Charleston and its path took it up Interstate 26 to Columbia and up Interstate 77 to Charlotte at which point it deposited a huge tree onto Bill’s brother-in-law’s car.
There are folks in life that are not unlike that hurricane. They bring havoc and destruction wherever they go. They are constantly at the center of a swirl of controversy and try as we may to avoid them they still manage to find us. Often times they are at the root of the drama in our lives.
The truth is that life has enough drama without folks increasing the drama in our lives; yet, we often have to deal with the drama they bring. So what are we to do? We can begin by not being the bearers of drama. We would be wise to remember what our Lord said when he spoke from the mountain saying “Blessed are the peacemakers.”
We must also learn how to deal with the negative people in our lives in a positive way. Jesus also told us to pray for those who do harm to us and to take the negative situations in life and bring something good from it.
That sounds hard to be sure but one of the many great things about God is that God asks nothing of us that we cannot do without his help. If we remember that God is with us we are well on the road to reducing the drama in our daily lives. When it comes to drama, we all would rather appreciate it than have it frustrate us.