Acting

I'm so sorry that I've been so bad at blogging lately. I'm not neglecting any of you purposefully, I've just been very busy lately. It has been good to feel missed, however, and I sincerely appreciate all of your encouragement, support, and prayers. May God bless you richly for the ways you've blessed me. Now onto my post....

I was in Denver for a few days this last week as a paid actor. Part of my new job, which begins August 1st, involves me being a part of the drama team for the Dare2Share student evangelism conferences which are being held all over the country. God blessed me with the opportunity to find myself being able to do some creative work (drama) as well as the technical, program-driven work that I'll be doing for the Christian production company I'll be working for. He is soo good to me! Anyway...all this acting has forced me to think about a few things. What is acting?

Well, acting is the art of becoming someone who you are not. It's the fine art of pretending (and to think I'll get paid for this. hehe). So I pretend to be a character, I attempt to think like he'd think and talk like he'd talk, being as genuinely him as possible...as if I were actually him. Acting is not real--ever.

So why are you and I such good actors? I'm not at all implying that you should be on the drama team with me for Dare2Share; I am implying that we all act in our lives. We want to come across as people that are liked and respected. We want to please those around us in a way that communicates love and care. We want people to think we look cute or are funny or successful or cheerful all the time. And often we act like we are...like those things are true...but we're acting--pretending. So what happens when life throws you such a curveball that no amount of acting could ever get you through? What happens when real life comes at you with such force that you are caught reeling backward wishing it was a role you were being asked to perform, but all the while facing the reality that it is your life? How do you feel in those moments? What do you do?

If you're anything like me when things like that happen, you don't sleep, your stomach hurts, you can't stop thinking about the issue at hand, you get angry and depressed, you feel hurt and betrayed by God, you want to curl up and die and hope no one else notices. Have you been there? In the role I play in the main drama for this conference I play a really messed up individual--an angry drunk who is explosively evil. It's a role that I play. What happens though when life makes me feel like that exposive individual where I want to just run and run and run and hope that when I get to wherever it is that I'm going that things will be "all better"?

Are you reeling from the crap of life, just wishing that you could act your way through it but faced with the reality that this is not going away? Are you acting your way through your existence, hoping that no one will realize that you're pretending, hoping that they'll be impressed with your pseudo-you?

I pray that we will be drawn out of the pretend, knowing that as bad as it can get, as lonely as we can be, as hopeless as we may feel, God is good, we are not alone and hope exists in the name of Jesus. Bless you!