When a famous actor, actress or musician passes, it's always interesting to me how the headlines are written. What are the works of art that become part of the headlines announcing their passing? Today Dame Margaret Natalie Smith passed at the age of 89. Her career spanned decades and multiple mediums Oscars and BAFTA awards. Most of the headlines included Downton Abbey and Harry Potter. But I couldn't find a single headline that mentioned the things that come immediately come to my mind.
Sister Act, The Breath of Life, and one of the greatest experiences of my life.
Which sounds like a very self-important novel title. But it's actually three things.
At some point in the spring or summer of 1992, I attended my first lock-in at church. For those unfamiliar, lock-ins were a strange device that allowed parents to drop their kids off at school with some snacks and a sleeping bag and be free of them for the next 12 hours. I was very excited for the lock-in. We had plans to play in the gym all night, never sleep, and feel freedom at that point unbeknownst to us.
There was also the expectation that we would do some Bible study and fellowship and likely some Christ-focused arts and crafts.
The lock-in began with a trip to Circus Pizza, a Minnesota knock off of Chuck-E-Cheese and then somewhat inexplicably this group of likely 40-50 children grades 5th through 8th went to a performance of the classic running from the mob comedy about Nuns and music, Sister Act.
Why a bunch of Lutheran kids went to a movie about Catholic nuns, I have never truly understood. But I loved it.
Songs all about, that lady from Star Trek as the lead, the stern Mother Superior who comes around and leads the Nuns on a rescue mission, and some pretty great one-liners that I would repeat for the rest of my life. "Alma! Check your battery!"
I told my parents all about Sister Act when I got home. When it came out on VHS it was a frequent Friday night rental and eventually, that tape became a stable of road trips in the van, with Field of Dreams, Teen Wolf, and The Hunt for Red October. I still watch it when I need to have a laugh or a smile. Mary Wickes, portrayal of Sister Mary Lazarus, the grumpy queen of wisecracks always hits the spot.
I saw The Breath of Life in London in January of 2003. It starred both Dame Maggie Smith and Dame Judi Dench in a play about a wife and a mistress meeting. I remember little of the play itself, other than the incredible feeling that these two talents were capable of captivating my attention despite the lack of connection or really even interest in the script. I truly didn't care much about the plot, I just wanted to be in the same space. It was the first time I really remember loving the moment of the art, even if the quality wasn't there. To see someone perform so well when given so little.
It was also part of one of the greatest week's of my life. I was in London, a newlywed on a trip that I was lucky enough to get to bring my wife, who wasn't student along as a "chaperone" - the irony of that is not lost on me giving the turning of the hands of time - I was taking classes at Shakespeare's Globe, working with professional Shakespearean actors, going to shows nearly every night, visiting small pubs and feeling like I was on top of the world. I'm not sure at really understood how lucky I was in that moment.
Because of those hands of time turning and the events that have subsequently occurred, it's not a time of my life that I revisit often. One thing I'm currently working on in therapy is being able to acknowledge that good moments, even when bad moments eventually seem to poison the memory of the good ones. I was so lucky to have the trip, to have a tiny version of a honeymoon that we never got, to hold so many amazing memories from that week in my heart. A tiny bible-shaped version of Henry the Fifth that I carried in my pocket for days and still sits in my safe as one of my most treasured items and so many more moments I treasure as well.
It's ok and right to acknowledge the good moments even if the story didn't have a happy ending. Dame Maggie Smith took so many audiences on so many journeys.
I'm thankful for the one she took me on today.
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