Beginnings of thoughts

This is what I have been thinking about recently. It isn't complete, I know, but it wants to be shared and discussed. Please, add your thoughts...

Last weekend, while waiting for the car to be diagnosed and repaired, I read some of the book "Directing Actors." It is a book that I will definitely want to read many times, but I am still on my first time through. The author was writing about the necessity for actors to listen to each other. Not just listen so they come in at the right time, but really listen, so that they can properly respond.

It sounded an awful lot like the description of love in 1 Cor. 13, especially, "it always hopes, always trusts, always perseveres." Because of that, I believe that Christians ought to be the best actors. We know what it is to experience Divine Love, so we should be best at giving it.

The next section was on understanding your character - not judging them. The author said that actors must realize that every human action that has ever been done, could have been done by them. Each person is capable of both the noble acts as well as the atrocities that have been committed. Because of that, actors ought to always be able to find something that they can relate to in their characters. They must find that something and play it honestly, not judge it before the performance is ever started.

And that issue, I believe, is why Christians are, in general, such terrible actors. They cannot act without making judgements. "This character is bad and I don't want to be anything like them..." we may say, but it doesn't change the fact that we are like them. "I am trying to live a sanctified life, I don't want to tap into that fleshly nature. I am always trying to fight it." This is a good goal, but if our struggle is never seen, our humanity is never seen. If our humanity is not seen, we are not imitating Christ.

The heart of acting is love - love for the character, for your fellow characters, for your fellow actors, and for the audience. It is about giving, sharing, being honest, listening, trusting... It isn't about us. Think of the ramifications of Christians living like actors - not pretending, being real humans.