February, 2014

Pippin – Taking the Best Life Offers

OH, IT’S TIME TO START LIVIN’

TIME TO TAKE A LITTLE OF THE WORLD WE’RE GIVEN

TIME TO TAKE TIME, CAUSE SPRING WILL TURN TO FALL

IN JUST NO TIME AT ALL — Stephen Schwartz, Pippin

A while ago, Suzanne and I saw a production of Pippin. The show deals with the life of Pippin, son of Charlemagne. It has interesting observations on power and life, and “No Time at All”, the song from which the above is taken, as well as “Corner of the Sky” (a song our choir did in concert a few years ago), expresses a metaphysical view.

These lyrics make the point that we should always be living life and doing it in the now. We should be soaking it in, appreciating the gifts of Spirit, and fully throwing ourselves with joy into the living of every moment.

A few months ago at the Tony Awards, Broadway’s salute to the best of theatre this year, we were thrilled to see that Pippin was awarded Best Revival of a Musical. (Also, Andrea Martin won for Best Featured Actress.) Every nominated show got to put on one number or one scene (for a “straight play”). All the performances and speeches exemplified excellence. Seeing such excellence on display is an inspiration. The revival is currently enjoying a successful Broadway run.

In its original incarnation back in he 1970s, Pippin changed the way Broadway shows advertised. Before Pippin, it was essentially, “We have a show. Channels 2, 4, and 7 like it. The Times, Post and Daily News like it. It’s at this theatre. Come see us.” Instead of that, we got “Here’s 60 seconds of Pippin” (and it was Ben Vereen dancing, I think from the opening song “Magic to Do”). Then they told us the theatre. The show had a nice long run, so everyone started to do it that way. This was reaching out to find a new way of doing things.

At our Center years ago, we used to have stickers that read, “I am committed to excellence.” By committing yourself to excellence, on stage or in whatever endeavor you undertake, you uplift every activity in your life. In so doing, you uplift those around you as well. Commit yourself to excellence in all your endeavors today and you will reveal the magnificence of your world. And when it’s revealed, accept it with gusto.

As Pippin’s grandmother, Berthe, who sings the words above, tells us:

Here is a secret I never have told.
Maybe you’ll understand why.
I believe if I refuse to grow old
I can stay young till I die.

A great observation. (I’ve long said that I intend to die young – at a VERY advanced age.) By keeping our youthful outlook on life, the outlook of possibility, we keep ourselves in position to grab what the world gives us, to find our corner of the sky. Are you ready to take a little of the world you’re given? Or maybe a lot? The only limit is the size of your container. So fill it to the rim with the most excellent things you can find.

Tim Phares, RScP

Let Go: Finish the Job – Saving Mr. Banks

Recently Suzanne and I saw Saving Mr. Banks. It’s the story of how Walt Disney finally persuaded P.L. Travers to sell him the rights to Mary Poppins, which, of course, became the iconic movie musical (and multiple Oscar winner) that we all know.

The movie is worth seeing just for entertainment. Tom Hanks is excellent as Walt Disney and Emma Thompson is magnificent as P.L. Travers. The two actors who play the Sherman brothers, the composers of the movie’s score, are very good as well.

The movie shows the clash of visions between the Disney view of the world (which the Sherman brothers seem to share) and the Travers view of the world. Travers’s view is much darker than Disney’s, yet they discover what they have in common. That discovery is what finally cements the deal and makes Mary Poppins, the movie, work.

As time goes on, Disney realizes how personal the story is to Travers. He realizes how central it is to her life and why she is so protective of it. And we find out that Walt Disney can relate to her experience from his own.

I don’t wish to spoil the plot, but at one point, Travers leaves Los Angeles to fly back to London, not having signed the contract for the movie rights (which Disney has been trying to get for 20 years to keep a promise to his daughters.) She arrives at her house and Disney shows up.

Knowing that Mr. Banks is based on Travers’ father, Disney tells her a story of growing up in Missouri with his father and brother that resonates well with Travers’ own life (which we see in flashbacks throughout the movie.) Then he says something key — that making Mary Poppins is a way for Travers to forgive.

“I do not need to forgive my father,” she says. Disney tells her that it’s not her father she needs to forgive, but herself. He pitches her on the idea that making the movie — with his optimistic, sunnier worldview — is a way to forgive and let go. “Finish the job,” he implores her.

The movie ends with Travers at the premiere, crying at the movie. It’s a moment of release, although Travers can’t quite acknowledge it.

So who is your Mr. Banks? Whoever it is, it’s time to stop carrying Mr. Banks around with you. It’s time to finish the job by forgiving yourself and your Mr. Banks for whatever you believe may need it. Do not let your “Mr. Banks experience” define you. Let it go. Finish the job. As A Course in Miracles says, “It is the privilege of the forgiven to forgive.”

This movie reminds us that whatever our experience, it’s just experience and it’s never too late to have it be a good experience. To quote Rev. Noel McInnis, “It’s never too late to have a happy childhood.” Writing the books helped P.L. Travers reframe her childhood and Disney’s take finished the job. Just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down in a most delightful way.

This is a movie experience you’ll learn from and one you’ll enjoy.

Tim Phares, RScP

I trust that my body is operating at its optimum

Treatment by Carol A. Haave, RScP

Today I am having minor surgery (scraping/diving for cells) to remove a very deep, cancerous mole. It literally appeared overnight — the size of a quarter and a half inch high. Fortunately (and unfortunately) I found it shaving my legs. If you find a mole that changes dramatically, please go see your dermatologist. While this is not melanoma they tell me, it can metastasize into melanoma. I’m just grateful that it dramatically showed itself so that I could deal with it quickly and easily.

Today I know that all is God and all is Good. Whatever errant cells exist in my body, I realize that they are simply misguided and return to their normal state. And as I know this for myself, I know if for anyone who is experiencing health challenges. I trust that my body is operating at its optimum — my cells, my bones, my tissue, all my organs are whole, perfect and complete. That Divine Intelligence operating as me knows exactly what to do and how to do it in perfect time and in perfect ways. For that I am grateful. So I am off to my appointment knowing that I am well. I release these words knowing they are already manifest and thank God for my healthy, beautiful, fully functioning mind and body. And so it is!!

February, 5, 2014

And the World Goes ‘Round – Footlight Parade

Sometimes your dreams get broken in pieces
But that doesn’t alter a thing.
Take it from me, there’s still gonna be
A summer, a winter, a fall and a spring.

— Fred Ebb, “And the World Goes ‘Round” (from New York, New York)

From time to time, there is a close relationship between composers and performers. One such was the relationship between Liza Minnelli and songwriters John Kander and Fred Ebb, starting with their show Flora the Red Menace in 1963 and continuing until Ebb’s passing in 2004.

Recently, we heard this great product of that collaboration on one of our favorite programs, Footlight Parade: Sounds of the American Musical. It’s a wonderful radio show about musical theatre.

The lyrics quoted above may seem odd from a Science of Mind/New Thought perspective. But they point out what one of our Center’s founding ministers, Rev. Noel McInnis, used to call “local pain, cosmic joy.” Although we may be going through painful experiences, although our dreams may be broken in pieces, the experience of the Universe is joy. The shattered pieces may be a dramatic kick in the shins to get moving – pick up those pieces, find what is yours to do, what makes you sing. The shattered dream leads us to the newer, bigger, deeper dream, which it is the joy of our Universe for you to pursue and achieve.

Sometimes we try to make the old shattered pieces work again. Sometimes we try to hang on to what’s been shattered and tattered. As your parents would say, stop it! Don’t keep chasing after what isn’t yours, because what’s calling you will keep calling until you answer. And it will get louder. Or to quote Fred Ebb again, “one day it’s kicks, then it’s kicks in the shins. But the planet spins, and the world goes ‘round and ‘round.”

So reach for the joy. Align yourself with cosmic joy and not with local pain. Take your shatters and tatters and use them to build something new and glorious, because either way, the world goes ‘round and ‘round.

Tim Phares, RScP