Treatment by Tim Phares, RScPToday we enjoyed the conclusion of the Metropolitan Opera Live in HD season, composer Gioachino Rossini and librettist Jacopo Feretti’s La Cenerentola, their telling of the Cinderella story. Today’s performance marekd the last time that Joyce Di Donato, who sang the role of Cenerentola (one of her signature roles), will sing it. This made her final aria, in which she sings that no more will she sit by the fire singing and all these years have seemed like a dream, especially poignant.We had seen this opera five years ago yesterday with different leads, and I wrote it up for the list at the time. I won’t repeat what I wrote then. You can read those thoughts (slightly updated) on Celebration Center’s website at https://celebrationcenter.org/la-cenerentola-forgiveness-and-the-power-of-our-word/Today, however, I was struck by something else in the opera: the character named Alidoro. (D’oro in Italian means “of gold”). Alidoro is the Prince’s teacher. The Prince (named Ramiro) calls him a “wise counselor”, which is one of the Bible’s designations for Jesus (and hopefully our job description as practitioners.)Alidoro enters early, stopping by the family’s run-down house dressed as a beggar. While the spoiled sisters send him away, Cenerentola finds him some coffee (!) and a couple of things to eat. (One of them is an apple.)When the Prince shows up (he and his valet have switched identities so that the prince may more easily check out the potential brides), Alidoro, who is in possession of the records, says that there should be three daughters in the house (He is referring, of course, to Cenerentola). The Baron and his two daughters try to convince the prince that the third daughter has died. The prince and his valet are confused, since Alidoro has spoken well of one of the daughters. (The behavior of the two sisters indicates that neither of them is that daughter.)The prince (still disguised as the valet) is deeply moved by Cenerentola’s plight and falls deeply in love with her.Cenerentola desperately begs to go to the ball, but her stepfather emphatically says no. However, Alidoro promises to get Cenerentola to the ball. He produces a beautiful dressing cabinet and opens it to reveal a lovely ball gown. Cenerentola, of course, is overwhelmed. She shows up at the ball, wows the prince (still in disguise), and as she departs (it is getting close to midnight, after all), leaves him a bracelet, saying she will be wearing a matching one. Alidoro arranges for the prince’s carriage to break down in front of the Baron’s dilapidated house. Now no longer disguised, he and his valet enter. He sees the bracelet and announces that Cenerentola will be his bride.It strikes me that this is how Divine guidance works. Alidoro would never have gone directly to the prince and said, “You should marry the servant girl.” The prince would most likely have rejected that out of hand. Instead, he gently leads the prince and Cenerentola to each other, as Divine guidance leads us to where we are supposed to be and what we are supposed to do gently, step by step, unless and until we ignore it (in which case, it can be a real nag — your calling will keep calling until you answer.)Do we listen to the gentle voice of Spirit? Do we follow its urgings? Or do we resist and fight? The prince is smart enough (and enough in love) to let himself be led to the perfect outcome. Are we as wise?And so we pray.There is only One Life, One Mind, One Power, One Presence, in, as, through, and around all. It is the Perfect Life, the Divine Life, and it is my life right now. That One is the Wise Counselor, the Perfect Love, the Grand Life of all.Since this Life is my life, I know that Divine Wisdom, Love, and Life are mine and all of ours right here, right now. Everything that It is, each of us is. Everything that It expresses, each of us expresses. Therefore, I let Divine wisdom unfold in every aspect of my life. I open and allow every activity to be filled with Divine Love. I let It lead me to my highest and best, gently, in Its own way. I know that that highest and best is now unfolding, even when I cannot see it as such. And with, for, and about each person reading this, I know the same.I am thankful for the gentle hand of Divine Wisdom and the gentle way it leads us to the fulfillment of Its Love. I am deeply grateful for this.And so, in that deep gratitude, I simply let it be, knowing that the highest and best is accomplished right now.And SO it IS!
Treatment for May 10, 2014