Literature and God
God is love, but get it in writing. ~Gypsy Rose Lee Teaching drama is not easy. Especially when you only have the text, and not the performance i.e. theatre, video or film. This is always the case where teaching drama at my place is concerned. Sigh. Unless we deal with Shakespeare's drama. Anyway, a teacher has got to be resourceful. Recently, my kids and I did "The Prodigal Son" by Garrison Keillor. I wasn't really impressed with this drama at first. After all, it is just a comedy. A satirical one. But after doing some research on the Net, I found that it is also a parody - a text which is copied from another text, but written in a humouros way. This drama is actually based on "The Parable of the Prodigal Son", a parable in the Bible. The parable revolves around three main characters, The Father, The Good Son and The Prodigal Son. The Prodigal Son, as his name suggests, asked his father to give him his share of the father's wealth, set off for a distant country and squandered his wealth in wild and sinful living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that country and he began to be in need. He longed to fill his stomach; to him, eating the pods that the pigs were eating was good enough.Uh. But no one gave him anything. Finally, he came to his senses and decided to go home to his father. His father welcomed him with arms wide open. In fact, he ordered his servants to bring the best robe for his son. He put a ring on his son's finger and sandals to his feet. He called for a feast. So, they began to celebrate. The Good Son, upon hearing the music and the dancing, asked what was going on. He became angry, for he had been slaving for his father and had never disobeyed the old man. Plus, The Father had never thrown a feast for him. The Father told his Good Son that he had to do that because The Prodigal Son was dead and is now alive again; he was lost and is found.
Back to my teaching. The kids were blur, of course, until I read them out the parable from the Bible. They could see the similarities and differences between the drama and the parable. They could also see what the three characters represent. The Father actually represents God, who is always forgiving, merciful and compassionate. The Prodigal Son represents men who sin and rebel against God; come to their senses when they are suffering; and repent. The Good Son, on the other hand, represent those people who always obey God, but who hold contemptuous attitude against sinners and think they are much better than the latter. Although this parable comes from the Bible, the kids had no problem (I hope!) relating to it. After all, the moral lessons from the parable are applicable to any one, regardless of their religion. The Prodigal Son is in all of us, I guess. At one time or another, we forgot about God and when we are suffering, we turn to Him. Why? Because when all else fails, who or what else is left but Him? Who can actually possess such compassion and mercy? The same can be seen in our relationship with our parents. No matter how we disobey, disappoint and disgrace them, they will always forgive us and accept us.
Back to my teaching. The kids were blur, of course, until I read them out the parable from the Bible. They could see the similarities and differences between the drama and the parable. They could also see what the three characters represent. The Father actually represents God, who is always forgiving, merciful and compassionate. The Prodigal Son represents men who sin and rebel against God; come to their senses when they are suffering; and repent. The Good Son, on the other hand, represent those people who always obey God, but who hold contemptuous attitude against sinners and think they are much better than the latter. Although this parable comes from the Bible, the kids had no problem (I hope!) relating to it. After all, the moral lessons from the parable are applicable to any one, regardless of their religion. The Prodigal Son is in all of us, I guess. At one time or another, we forgot about God and when we are suffering, we turn to Him. Why? Because when all else fails, who or what else is left but Him? Who can actually possess such compassion and mercy? The same can be seen in our relationship with our parents. No matter how we disobey, disappoint and disgrace them, they will always forgive us and accept us.
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