As I sit off stage in the Producer’s Office I become aware of what it is like to be ‘on stage’. I recall the other actors around me, what it feels like to be in the play, the pace of the play and the response of the audience.

During my last Sunday in the parish we were in the wilderness with Jesus and thinking about temptations. Since we’d been working our way through the Sermon on the Mount I used those very human frailties as our temptations – anger, worry and vainglory.

Today in the Producer’s Office, I’m most aware of vainglory, of the need to be noticed by others that Jesus warns us about in Matthew 6. I can recall what it feels like to be up-staged by someone, to have someone cut in and take my lines, or toss a cue to someone who misses it, or to be moved by the applause of the crowd. Here in the Producer’s Office I’m reminded that I live for an Audience of One. The applause is not external, but internal, a quiet knowing of God’s pleasure.

Right now, I’m very glad not to be in the rough and tumble of the performance. It is good to step off stage and catch my breath. Actually, I’m not just off stage catching my breath for that would be a regular Sabbath day. I’m in the Producer’s Office quite removed from the main thrust of the drama. Here I’m able to recall what it’s like to be in the drama.

Who are you playing to? Are you responding to the applause of the crowd? Angry at someone up staging you? Or are your eyes on the Audience of One?

Oh we are human! Oh I am human! Temptations abound……

I’m grateful for the time off stage.

Love and prayers

Anne

Mystic in Motion