But Ruth said, “Don’t force me to leave you; don’t make me go home. Where you go, I go; and where you live, I’ll live. Your people are my people, your God is my god... Ruth 1:16
I recently had the opportunity to watch the 1965 classic film The Sound of Music starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer. I had heard of the death of Mr. Plummer on February 5th, 2021 and it stirred up a fondness in me for the guilty pleasure of this three-hour musical. The Sound of Music has always been a go-to comfort to me. I ease into the characters and songs like a warm blanket and let it envelop me in its simplicity, charm and innocence.
In brief, the film is set in Austria as World War II begins to carve it’s gnarled fingers into European history. A young Maria is a postulant-nun in a Salzburg abbey. She is good hearted and kind, and although she makes the Sisters of the abbey laugh, they don’t feel she is an asset and they encourage the Reverend Mother to find Maria a position outside of the convent...
Enter the Von Trapp family. Seven rambunctious children left with a bereft, widower father. Captain Von Trapp runs his home as he runs his naval vessels: strict. order and routine, little affection or love. Maria is commissioned to become the newest (12th in line) “Governess” or nanny to the seven Von Trapp children (Liesl 16. Friedrich 14. Louisa 13. Brigitta 10. Marta 7. Gretl 5… And ‘what’s his name? Kurt! God bless Kurt!’ Age 11.)
As the story unfolds, we learn a lot about the Von Trapp family but little about Maria, even though she is the central character. The most revealing facts come to us in the first few minutes of the film. When she is summoned to the Reverend Mother to address her calling at the abbey, we learn that Maria grew up in the hills of Salzburg. She used to climb trees as a girl and peek into the yard of the convent, listening to the nuns singing their prayers. This is one of the only details we, as the viewers, ever get about Maria.
I find it interesting, and a little tragic, that this young woman, who felt a calling by God to join the abbey, is rejected by her sisters in faith. The other nuns don’t understand how Maria can wander off into the hills to chase the blackbirds and not be on time to say her prayers. They call her a clown. They chastise her lateness and her singing and dancing. Coming to the conclusion that she is a “problem” and calling her any number of names including: a child, a pest, a headache and even a demon! The Sisters recognize that she has a heart of gold and means no harm by her actions, but decide that the abbey is not a suitable place for her. They derail her calling. The nuns actually invalidate the fact that Maria felt called to the abbey as a girl in a tree.
But wait… Don’t villainize those ladies of faith just yet…
Have you ever felt certain of a calling in your life? Absolutely convicted? You feel a purpose has been set before you and you walk out in faith to pursue the purpose, only to have door after door slammed in your face? It is such a confusing predicament. I know. I’ve been there. Sure of what you felt God called you to, feeling very right in your actions, that they are of God. But you just continue to come up short. It is off-putting. It is hard. It shakes your faith. It shakes your confidence and conviction.
This is where Maria finds herself; at a crossroads. Surely God called her to the abbey, but now the abbey, her beloved sisters, are saying that the calling she felt is taking a u-turn, a shift, an unexpected detour. She is no longer to be a postulant, but she is to serve as a family’s governess? Rather than kneeling in prayer, she would be tying shoes? Rather than studying scriptures, she would be brushing out curls? How could this possibly be God’s plan? What a mystery this must have seemed. Not to mention the fact that she was being forced from the security of her “home and family” with the nuns.
But Maria is faithful. She goes.
She recognizes that God does not always reveal his plan to us in a seemingly sensible order. Maria has faith and follows the next steps in God’s plan. Trusting that it is perfect for her. Is she scared? Yes. Is she confused? Yes. Does she feel disoriented by her new “marching orders”? Yes!
If I haven’t mentioned it by now, The Sound of Music is a musical. Please excuse this little slip. I assumed that you would assume a movie titled The Sound of Music would in fact include music, which it does, but not just music, the incredible lyrics and melodies that are unique to this amazing musical score. It was written by the incomparable Rogers and Hammerstein. And really is second to none in the brilliance of its adept musicality.
The fact that it is a musical is significant to my telling here because in Maria’s plot line at this point in our story, she sings a brilliant and heartfelt number about her confidence. She begins the song singing questions of how things will be, what her future will hold, how she lacks courage and is overwhelmed… But she continues on. She finds “confidence in confidence alone” which eventually brings her to confidence in herself.
How many times have we been at this crossroad? Like Maria, we felt that our calling was robbed from us and a new and terrifying was calling placed before us. We want to turn from it. “No thanks, God. I was faithful the first time and I don’t really think I can handle this new task. If you’ll just put me back where I was comfortable and confident, I would appreciate it.” But God doesn't do that. God knows that we stagnate in comfort and grow in discomfort. Like with Maria, he opens the door to the next adventure, the next calling, the next opportunity.
It is so hard. It is so scary. But we have to find the confidence. We may not find it in ourselves, but we can look for it in the fact that God has placed a task before us. He has confidence in us to take the next step, follow the next path, reach for the next opportunity. He gives us confidence in confidence so we can find that confidence within ourselves.
How amazing is that? He loves us, trusts us so much, that he gives us an opportunity to stretch and grow rather than wither and die...
Maria went on to be the Governess for the Von Trapp family. It was not a picnic. It was not easy. She did not experience a smooth road on her journey beyond the abbey. But at the end of the film, Maria is where she is supposed to be. She has stepped into the roll God had ordained for her to fill. Not only did she find her confidence and her calling, she found her true family. She found love and appreciation and acceptance. Her journey was a journey to joy.
God wants that for you. He wants that for me. God wants us to trust that when he calls us to something, we will take the steps necessary to walk into his plans with confidence. That doesn’t mean it will always be comfortable. It doesn’t mean it will be easy. But it does mean that you will be stepping out in faith.
If you have never watched The Sound of Music, I highly recommend that you give it a try. Be warned, as I said before, it is three-hours long. But you won’t be disappointed. Grab some popcorn and a soda. Treat yourself to this guilty pleasure. There is much more to the story than a singing nun; yodeling goats and Nazis to say the least…
As well, as the endearing story of Maria and her journey.
Don’t overlook it. It’s easy to miss. She makes a dramatic transformation that would never have happened if she had stayed in the safe, secure environment of the abbey… See, those mean old nuns knew what they were doing after all.
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