Irony

Music: "Bloom" by MAE


He smiles and I melt

over and over until

I drown in a puddle of

self-loathing and cotton candy.

He laughs and I soar

up, up, swimming in cumulus and nimbus,

before I crash down

with wings of melted wax

burning my shoulders.

He leaves and I weep

a river so deep

it’s a wonder

I don’t sink

to play with rusty anchors 

and necklaces with diamonds

for pendants.

He comes back and I smile 

and everything is still

still

still

still.

Love the Lord series - Soul

Title: I Soul You

Characters: Badong, Diego, Jesus, two to three generic actors/mimers

Costumes: Casual clothes for Badong and Diego; Jesus costume; black shirt and pants for mimers

Verse: Mark 12:30

Time: Approximately 5 minutes

Language: Bilingual (primary language is Tagalog, with some portions in English)

License and rights ownership: Creative Commons - Attribution-Non-commercial

 

[BADONG is on LSR, reading the Bible. He is frowning, as if confused about what he is reading. DIEGO enters from SL and sees him.]

Diego: O Badong, bakit parang litong lito ka diyan sa binabasa mo? Anong problema?

Badong: Ah, ikaw pala, Diego. Binabasa ko lang kasi yung verse na nasa devotional ko para sa araw na ito. Sabi kasi dito, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” Yung heart, mind and strength, naiintindihan ko. Pero yung soul, hindi ko gets!

Diego: Hindi mo gets?

Badong: Kasi, tingnan mo ha. Halimbawa, “Love the Lord with all your heart.” Heart, eh di puso. May picture agad na pumapasok sa isip mo. Puwede mong sabihin na “I love chocolate sundae,” o “Sinaktan mo ang puso ko,” gets agad ng kausap mo. Eh subukan mo kaya sabihing, “I soul chocolate sundae” o “Sinaktan mo ang kaluluwa ko.” Medyo sablay diba?

Diego: [chuckles] Medyo mahirap ngang intindihin ano? Sabagay, mas madaling i-picture sa utak natin ang puso kaysa kaluluwa.

Badong: Yun nga yung kanina ko pa pinoproblema eh! Ano bang ibig sabihin ng “Love the Lord with all your soul?”

Diego: Ganito.

[During the next three paragraphs, actors/mimers will act out the lines as Diego recites them.]

Kunwari, nasa bahay ka. Nagre-relax sa sala. Tapos, kinuha mo yung remote control, at binuksan mo ang TV. Habang nanonood ka, biglang tumabi sayo si Jesus. Anong gagawin mo? Itutuloy mo lang ba ang panonood, o bigla mong ililipat ang channel?

O kaya naman, nagmamaneho ka ng kotse pauwi galing trabaho. Ma-trapik sa EDSA, kaya binuksan mo muna ang radyo para malibang ka naman habang naghihintay. Eh biglang nasa passenger seat pala si Jesus. Anong gagawin mo? Lalakasan mo ba yung volume para marinig din niya yung pinapakinggan mo, o bigla mong papatayin ang radyo?

O di kaya, seryosong seryoso ka sa tinitingnan mo sa laptop mo. Tapos biglang sumilip si Jesus mula sa likod mo. Anong gagawin mo? Ipapakita mo ba sa kanya yung website na tinitingnan mo, o bigla mong isasara yung screen?

[Actors exit.]

Badong: O, ano naman ang kinalaman nun sa tanong ko?

Diego: Love the Lord your God with all your soul. Ibig sabihin, love him in the way we live. In the choices we make. In the behavior and lifestyle we adopt. Because the choices and decisions we make come back to our soul—back to who we are and what we're made of.

Badong: Ganun ba yun?

Diego: Ganun nga. Tanungin mo ang sarili mo: Paano mo ba ginagastos ang pera mo? Saan mo inuubos ang oras mo? Anong mga libro o magasin ang binabasa mo? Anong mga programa sa TV ang madalas mong panoorin? Anong klaseng mga kaibigan ang meron ka?

Badong: So, ang sinasabi mo, dapat tanungin ko ang sarili ko kung okay lang na laging nasa tabi ko si Jesus at nakasilip sa bawat gagawin ko? O kung maiilang ako dahil sa mga pinagsasasabi o ikinikilos ko?

Diego: Tama. Sabi sa John 14:15, “If you love me, you will obey what I command.” Ibig sabihin, kung hindi mo susundin ang mg utos niya, kung patuloy ka lang sa paggawa ng gusto mo, kahit na alam mong mali ang mga ito . . .

Badong: . . . eh di hindi mo siya mahal.

Waiting for Godot

Music: "(A)fternoon In Eden" by MAE

here

i

am

waiting

patiently

for

something

that

will

never

come

i

want

to

leave

but

sometimes

letting go

is

more

painful

than

waiting in vain

Seven Last Words series - "I am thirsty."

Title: The Well

Characters: Jesus, Samaritan woman, six to ten generic actors

Costumes: Bible costume for Jesus and Samaritan woman, black shirt and dark jeans for everyone else

Verses: John 4:7-13

Time: Approximately 5 minutes

Stage directions: The material is divided into three sections--Music, Skit and Narration. Generic actors can recite lines in the Narration portion either one by one or thru choral recitation. The Skit is between Jesus and the Samaritan woman. Generic actors can either sing the lines in the song, or, for added effect, they can go down to the audience and distribute small bookmarks or pieces of paper containing John 13-14 while Music Second Part is playing.

Song: “The Well” by Casting Crowns (First part - 00:01 to 00:13; Second part – 3:20 t0 4:57)

Links: Casting Crowns Interview, Link to live performance (to follow)

License and rights ownership: Creative Commons – Attribution-Non-commercial; Copyright of “The Well” by Casting Crowns

Extra note: Skit can be used as an opener for a message on the fourth Seven Last Words, "I am thirsty" (John 19:28) or as a stand-alone play.

(Music – First Part)

Leave it all behind

Leave it all behind

Leave it all behind

Leave it all behind

(Skit)

Jesus: Will you give me a drink?

Samaritan Woman: You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?

Jesus: If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.

(Narration)

The Samaritan woman could never seem to quench her thirst. Everyday, she kept on coming back to the well to draw water. But she was still left dry and thirsty.

(Skit)

Samaritan Woman: Sir, you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you go get this living water?

(Narration)

Nothing seemed to satisfy.

Not the water from the well.

Not the five marriages she had.

Not everything she searched for.

Not until she turned to Jesus.

(Skit)

Jesus: Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.

(Narration)

Just like this Samaritan woman, are you forever searching for something you think you need?

A successful career?

Recognition from your peers?

Love and affection from a boyfriend or a girlfriend?

You can try to draw from your job, but you'll end up thirsty.

You can try to draw from your relationships,

But understand that it will not work if you try to draw from the other person.

Jesus is the only one who can complete you.

Even when your heart is broken.

Even when you feel that your last prayer is spoken.

Just leave everything behind

And rest in the arms of Christ.

(Music – Second Part)

And all who thirst will thirst no more

And all who search will find what their souls long for

The world will try but it can never fill

So leave it all behind

And come to the well.

Leave it all behind

And come to the well.

Leave it all behind

Leave it all behind

Leave it all behind

Leave it all behind

Your pursuit of perfection (leave it all behind)

Your fear of rejection (leave it all behind)

Your temporary pleasures (leave it all behind)

All your earthly treasures (leave it all behind)

Dried up empty religion (leave it all behind)

Rusty chains of addiction (leave it all behind)

All the guilt that weighs you down (leave it all behind)

Just leave it all behind and come to the well

Love the Lord series - Heart

Title: Love the Lord with All Your Heart

Characters: Jesus, Narrator, five to six generic actors

Costumes: Jesus costume, white shirt and black pants for everyone else

Verse: Mark 12:30

Time: Approximately 5 minutes

Stage directions: Narration can be voiced over or the narrator can stand center stage. Actors will follow cues, depending on the line the narrator recites.

Links: Link to live performance, Link to demo performance

License and rights ownership: Creative Commons - Attribution-Non-commercial

The Bible says to love your God with all your heart. But how exactly do you do that?

Is it by going to church every Sunday to sing the most heavenly songs of praise, and then going home to listen to Lady Gaga sing about her idea of a bad romance, or Michael Jackson belt out “Thriller!” at the top of his lungs?

Is it by reading the Bible for five minutes every night, just enough to finish that short passage required by The Daily Bread, and then spending the rest of the evening tweeting and clicking the Like button on Facebook?

Is it by giving the exact amount for your tithe, down to the last centavo, and then spending the rest of your money buying extravagant gifts for your boyfriend or girlfriend or wife or husband?

Is it by mouthing a quick prayer before mealtimes or before going to bed, but spending countless hours online, chatting with complete strangers, or texting a gazillion “eow pows” and “jejejejeje” on your brand new iPhone?

Is it by thanking Him for the gift of eternal life, and then failing to share the gospel to other people because of shame or fear?

The Bible says God loves us so much that he sent his one and only son to the world to save us. Because of his love for us Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead after three days, just to give us the opportunity to spend eternity with him in heaven, where there will be endless singing, where all mourning will turn into dancing, where sorrow will be a thing of the past and we will join a million angels as they continually praise his name!

The Bible says to love the Lord your God with all of your heart. After everything he has done for us, does he deserve anything less?

Do you love the Lord with all your heart?

Untitled #2 (a.k.a. True love is not found in fairy tales.)

Music: Smile Like You Mean It by The Killers

There was once a girl

who knew too little and loved too much

and she found herself

disconcerted.

So she gave too little and expected too much

and she found herself

disappointed.

This girl grew cynical and jaded

and refused to believe that she could be

deserving of the happy ending

Disney princesses always get

and she found herself

disillusioned.

Who will tell her that true love is not found in fairy tales?

That knights often come in rusty armor

And she has to fight dragons by herself?

Who will show her that endings are not always happy

And hearts break quicker than they can heal?

Who will tell her that true love is not in fairy tales?

So she keeps to herself

and braves the world

Alone.

And she tries to prove to everyone

that love is for simple-minded fools

and still,

a part of her wishes for her prince to come . . .

but no one does

and she finds herself

disenchanted.

Who will tell her that life is not made up of happy endings?

That sometimes, the prince charming runs off with

the wicked witch of the west?

Who will save her from the tower she locked herself in?

Who will tell her that life seldom offers happy endings?

Hold your head high, little girl

and don't give up hope

happy endings may not exist

but happiness does

open your heart to endless possibilities

and brace yourself

you will be hurt, you will cry

but it will be all worth it

in the end.

True love is not found in fairy tales

Because fairy tales are just that--tales

But the best stories are often filled with the most painful things

So hold your head up, little girl

And brace yourself

Life is not made of happy endings

but that does not mean

love is not

real.