"Then the whole assembly rose and led him off to Pilate." Luke 23:1
Don’t you hate it when you get a song stuck in your head? It runs on a loop all day, driving you crazy, sometimes for days on end. This happens to me often. A chunk, a segment of a song will run, seemingly endlessly through my mind, waking me up at two o’clock in the morning. A reminder that it’s still there.
The maddening thing about an earworm is that it is never the whole song. It’s not like you get the first verse, followed by the chorus and the bridge and then the chorus again, ending in a great resolution chord. No. It doesn’t run beginning to end. That would at least be satisfying. With an earworm, a small series of words stick in the brain and run endlessly. Sometimes a dozen words or so, flowing over and over and over again. It’s enough to drive a person crazy.
This seems to be a common affliction. Few are immune. My dad taught me to have an “eraser song” prepared for when an earworm strikes. An eraser song is a song you sing over and over whenever attacked by the earworm. It is a method of replacing the stuck song. This actually works… sometimes. But often, the earworm needs to work itself out on its own.
Recently I had an earworm. It was a song by Stephen Sondheim from the musical Into the Woods. The chunk of lyrics that were on an infinite loop in my brain are words sung by the Witch in a climactic scene of this hit Broadway musical. The song is called “The Last Midnight”.
In the play, the audience follows several beloved storybook characters: Jack (and the beanstalk), Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Rapunzel, and the royal, princely Brothers Charming, among others. In this apex of action, the Giant’s wife is demanding the life of Jack to repay for the death of her husband and the theft of many riches. She is wreaking havoc across the kingdom. Of course, the ever pragmatic Witch has a solution to the problem. It’s simple. Give the Giantess what she wants. Give her Jack.
Of course the other characters, who have grown to love the mischievous boy, baulk at her suggestion. At their cries of “no!”, here is the Witch’s reply:
“No? / You’re so nice / You’re not good / You’re not bad / You’re just nice / I’m not good / I’m not nice / I’m just right / I’m the witch / You’re the world.”
This is the line that was running through my brain on a non-stop loop for about three days. It’s a haunting melody, filled with darkness and foreboding. It is the epitome of a villain’s anthem.
But as these lyrics reverberated over and over in my unconscious and conscious mind, I began to recognize a realism in them. The truth in the Witch’s proposal. The Witch’s observation is profound. The group who is withholding Jack from the Giantess does so out of nicety. Which is ironic, because up until now, they have all been functioning quite selfishly. Each of them on their own journey in the woods with their own agenda and vision. Now, faced with a common enemy--the Giantess--they have joined forces. In a united front they have chosen to protect Jack. It’s nice… But it isn’t going to save them from the suffering (spoiler alert, Into the Woods does not have a story-book “happily ever after”).
The Witch isn’t nice, but she’s right. To end their suffering the best option is to “give her the boy”. This would appease the Giantess who would leave the kingdom, and our players, in peace. Somehow the Witch’s plan is deemed absurd. “The world”, as the witch calls them, is rejecting the most logical plan, in order to be nice. True, the witch’s plan would ultimately end in Jack’s demise, but it is a sacrifice of one for the deliverance of many.
I often find parallels in art. I see themes in music, movies, books and even in theater. Something these mediums may seem the antithesis of spirituality, but a lesson will begin to stand. I connect the content and character of the secular to the sacred. This particular earworm, sung by a witch in a raucous Broadway show, did just that. As I thought about this song, practically tormented by the ever-present lyrics, I began to see a parallel that may be worth closer examination.
I hope you will trust me on this one. Here we go...
When the Sanhedrin brought Jesus before Pilate, they were like the Witch, demanding Jesus be sacrificed. They did so for their own selfish reasons and their own agenda. But the people of Jerusalem didn’t respond as our fairy-tale characters did in Into the Woods. The people (“the world”, if you will) didn’t side with Jesus. They found no affront to the plea for his demise. They handed him over, readily, even exchanging his freedom for that of Barabbas, a murderous infidel. Jesus’ friends were not there to fight for his freedom. He alone was set before Pilate. Like Jack put before the Giantess, there was no possibility for him to be delivered. His fate was sealed. The World had spoken and it meant his impending demise.
Please don’t think that my parallel of Jack and the Beanstalk is that of Jesus of Nazareth. My point in the comparison is that in one instance a silly, childish boy has a company of his peers to rise up against evil and champion for him, while the Savior of the world had none.
There is complexity in the story of the cross. So many angles and nuances to consider, but a big factor that is above refute is that Jesus was handed over to his death sentence while the crowds cheered. The same crowd that possibly heralded in his Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem.
I may be over-spiritualizing this, but an earworm on continuous loop reminded me that even though we are nice, it doesn’t always mean we are right. We overlook the obvious solution. We tippy-toe around difficult questions because someone might be offended by the answer. We choose nicety over deliverance.
Don't get me wrong, nice is important, but so is right. There has got to be a balance.
In the end of Into the Woods, the Witch doesn’t triumph, nor does the Giantess. As I told you, our story doesn't end with “happily ever after”, but it does end with friendship. There is a kindred bond at the end of the play that gives you a tiny sense that it was all worth it: the destruction of the kingdom, the deaths of loved ones, the failed love-affairs. Friendship is the bond. Friendship is the theme, the common thread, that binds our story-book characters together. And isn’t it interesting that when Jesus returned, when he was resurrected, he sought out his friends. He appeared to the disciples and even had breakfast with them on the beach. It makes me think about the greater purpose of friendship...
Unlike Into the Woods and regardless of the notes or the lyrics we hear in our minds over and over again, the story of Jesus does have a “happily ever after” because after the enemy is slain, the journey is through and the victory is won, we will come out of the woods and into the light of eternity.
(Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim)
Kommentarer