quakersrock

Ordinarily this is a pretty sleepy site; I don't talk much about my religion, in fact, have made it a practice not to. I put my plays here; some Quaker pop art; some other stuff, but it has only 22 posts since its inception and that was many years ago.

Today was the performance of Second First-day at the Interfaith Center, so I'm actually breaking the habit above. I want to make several points about the play.

For the record, the play was earlier today (Sun. Nov. 2, 2008); it was generally a success; it was attended mostly by people who came to meeting and potluck anyway, since it was not heavily advertised or publicized. Actors did great, I thought.

It was different from others in that it seemed like many of the actors had grown a lot since the last ones; new crowd, both on-stage and in the audience. Second, it was about the Interfaith itself, and came at a time when that's a hot issue (moving); I tried actually not to take too strong a stand, but, with it being all about appreciation of the place, it was hard not to at least appear that way.

Finally, I don't have much to say about use of the Buddha to represent one religion in the one religion vs. many debate. Perhaps Buddha was inappropriate for this role; I chose Buddha mostly because the two statuettes were in proximity, so much of the time, for so much of the meeting. It seemed to me like all religions have this conflict; they pressure their members to give more of themselves, and not be a wanderer of many paths. Quakerism is perhaps unusually tolerant in this regard, thus likely to side with the huggers statuette in the play. But seriously I chose only to represent the disagreement, not to post a winner. I don't consider myself one to answer that question, even though I've very clearly sided with the huggers on it, both with my family & publicly.

But I'll admit, I did very little research into the Buddha, the Buddha's role in this debate, etc. I didn't know for example that use of Buddha with "the Divine" was probably inappropriate. I just wrote it for the situation. It was kind of for this group, this building, this moment; nothing else.

I don't intend to change minds with these plays. I'm as accurate as I can be with limited time, limited knowledge and the need to do something productive with First-day school. I'm happy if people use the plays to discuss issues; in this case I'm truly torn about the issue of Interfaith vs. moving anyway, one could say I feel strongly both ways. Thought I'd get at least a few of my feelings down in print.

Pop art: what can I say? It's original, putting Quakers in pop art (see below; it may be buried in the archives of this blog). But again, I don't have any particular message. I use pop art to bring things I notice and feel up to the surface. To me it's not a contradiction to put Quakers & pop art in the same sentence, because, though pop art is surface, shallow, all on top, Quakerism can have a certain surface attraction also, an image, a powerful essence, color and shape working together to say what Quakerism is. So I play with that, all in the context of a developing, computer-based graphic pop-art medium. I also don't find Quakerism & the web, or e-mail, or even Second Life to be necessarily contradictory; I try to do everything with a genuine hope, simplicity, spirit. If I separate Quakerism from pop art, what would that say? or from my writing? It's not separate; I'm just me. And, if it offended you, I apologize. Keep in mind, unlike Andy Warhol, I'm not going out and printing a million of these "Oat Quakers;" unlike the Obama Hope posters, I don't think they'll be plastered on the walls of Denver, sell on eBay for thousands, or be the seed for blogs of viral parody. But who knows. If they do, I'll stand behind them, see above; Quakerism is, to me, important, personal, a kind of support for keeping me on the good side with where I'm going with all of this. Which means, I probably won't start selling it. Not the art, not the plays, none of it. Even if I could make it better, I probably won't; I'll leave this site for me, let people use the plays & the art, and keep adding to it, as time passes, and Quakerism gets a richer texture, more meaning, in my own life.

SECOND FIRST-DAY AT THE INTERFAITH
Script- October 2008

RUBBER TREE: Noah
GUITAR CASE: Gabe
PIANO: Delia
HUGGERS STATUETTE: Marly
BUDDHA STATUETTE: Twyla
CHURCH OF CHRIST BROCHURE, PRESBYTERIAN BROCHURE, LUTHERAN BROCHURE: Eli, Corey, Victor
YIN-YANG FLAG, EARTH FLAG, UN FLAG: Eli, Corey, Victor
KRSNA BOOK, ISLAM BOOK, JUDAISM BOOK: Eli, Corey, Victor

ACT ONE

BUDDHA STATUETTE: I am the Buddha. I am the Enlightened one. Om.
HUGGERS STATUETTE: You're just a statuette. You're just a rock. Somebody carved you out of a rock!
BUDDHA: People bring me flowers. I represent the path to enlighenment. The one path. Om!
HUGGERS: There are many paths to enlightenment.
BUDDHA: What we think, we become. The mind is everything.
HUGGERS: You and your quotes! You're beginning to bug me!
(they leave)

GUITAR CASE (to audience): OK, here's the deal. You Eaters are in for a special treat today. I'm a guitar case, and I've been elected to show you around a little- give you a tour, and let you in on the secret world of inanimate objects. We call ourselves Noticers, because we notice everything. You (points at audience) are the Eaters. I'm not sure why we call you that, maybe when you start eating, you stop noticing. Anyway we Noticers can talk- you just don't hear it usually. Only today we've made it possible for you to hear us. Today is music day at Quaker meeting. Second First-Day at the Interfaith. That's why I'm on the scene. Here we go! come with me? walks off stage & around for a minute; meanwhile PIANO & RUBBER TREE set up on stage). GUITAR CASE reenters stage. PIANO is at left, playing the piano to himself with his fingers, imagining a song. RUBBER TREE is at center with arms up.)
PIANO: Well if it isn't Guitar case. What is it, music day?
RUBBER TREE: Of course, second Sunday of the month! What's new, guitar case?
GUITAR CASE: Oh, nothing much. Same old same old. Tom H's kitchen, back of truck, here. At least I get out once in a while, better than some guitar cases. Here I stand in the lobby, and soon I'll go into the library. Then, it'll be back out here, and home.
PIANO: How's Shinto Gate?
GUITAR CASE: Same as usual, stands out there in front, eaters walk under him. They painted him a couple of years ago, did you know that?
PIANO: Oh yeah, I can see out the window, you know. I just can't talk to him. Every day I watch him out there, but I never say hello to him. Maybe on the day they move me out.
RUBBER TREE: Any word on the fate of the building?
GUITAR CASE: No, same as usual. They're going to tear it down, everyone is sure of it. They're going to put some new building up right here where this one used to be. They've got plans, oh yes. But, they're having trouble keeping it going as it is. The Quakers were thinking of moving across the road. The building is in bad repair, bad airconditioning, that kind of stuff.
RUBBER TREE: Aaaaaahhhh! I can't take it!
PIANO: Ah, Rubber Tree, buck up. They'll find a home for you.
RUBBER TREE: Yeah, they'll find a home for me, in some university lobby somewhere. But it won't be the same. They'll probably cut off my upper branches, make me start over!
PIANO: Hey, at least you have a future. It's Shinto Gate that's in trouble. What are they going to do with Shinto Gate?
RUBBER TREE: I just can't take it! It seems so unfair, these eaters having so much control over our lives, over everything! And they don't even care about us!
GUITAR CASE: Be glad you're not a book, like Krsna book or Islam book. You stand around for twenty, thirty years, your cover says "Look at me! Look at me!" Sometimes those eaters look at you, but usually they don't. Then it's off to the landfill for you!
PIANO: Yeah, or be glad you're not a glass figurine. Some eater kid drops you, it's all over! Or remember the brochures? There were brochures for each of the Christian denominations that funded this place. But they kept getting spilled and going out to the landfill!

(BROCHURES ENTER)
CHURCH OF CHRIST BROCHURE, PRESBYTERIAN BROCHURE, LUTHERAN BROCHURE: Pick us up! Read us! Pick us up! Read us!
(BROCHURES LEAVE)

GUITAR CASE: I've heard stories about the landfill. I'll do anything to stay out of there!
PIANO: You'll be ok, guitar case. They get a new building, they still need a guitar!
RUBBER TREE: Hey, speaking of books, what's going on in the library? Aren't you on your way in there?
GUITAR CASE: Yes, for music Sunday. Last week there was a huge fight between the Buddha statuette and the Huggers statuette.
PIANO: Oh yeah? I didn't hear about that.
GUITAR CASE: Oh yeah. Huggers claims that she's out on the table, because she represents all the religions, she represents the Interfaith itself. There's four of her, so she faces every direction, you know. But Buddha says, as a symbol of the divine, she deserves more respect...

(FLASHBACK INTERLUDE- CHARACTERS BACK UP, HUGGERS & BUDDHA COME TO FRONT- after sheet is brought out)

BUDDHA: OK, I get it. You're a huggers statuette. You like to pay attention to all religions. Islam, Hinduism, Judaism, you like 'em all. But what you forget is, when you believe in all of them, you dilute each one. You can't know the true path if you're spending time on every different path!
HUGGERS: You don't get it, do you? When you respect every path, you learn from each one, and you notice that God respects each one; God doesn't care what you call your path. When you get all involved in your one religion, you think that everyone else is wrong, and you've got the only way!
BUDDHA: You can't be two religions at once! Either you're one, or you're the other! You've got to choose!
HUGGERS: I choose to respect them all!
PIANO: It's true, they usually put Huggers down there on the table, where everyone can see her.
GUITAR: But they only bring out Buddha for the special Buddhist events. Though they do bring her flowers.
RUBBER TREE: A Noticer is a Noticer. Why should anything an Eater do change anything? They're just statuettes. That's all. Eaters don't care about us. Yeah they move us around once in a while. You stand here for a few years, maybe they'll come by and water you once in a while. Eaters come and go, and it doesn't change anything.
GUITAR CASE: Yeah but it's what you represent that counts.
RUBBER TREE: Why? I don't represent anything but a rubber tree.

(FLAGS ENTER)
YIN-YANG FLAG, EARTH FLAG, UN FLAG: Notice me! Notice me! Notice me!
(FLAGS LEAVE)

GUITAR CASE: Well, you know, symbols are big for these eaters. You represent God, you end up in some holy place, you get stuff brought to you. Someone brought Buddha a flower, did you see that?
RUBBER TREE: Yeah, but when the Eaters go home, you're just a statuette. Same as all the rest. Eaters can come and go, I don't think they change anything.
PIANO: What about Spike?
GUITAR CASE: Who's Spike?
PIANO: Spike was a cat, lived around here for years. We used to argue about whether he was an eater or a noticer. Actually, he was kind of both. He was a little rough on the edges. This was back in the Karen era, before Hugh even.
GUITAR CASE: Yeah?
PIANO: Didn't really have a family, Quakers were the closest he had. So one day, he caught a mole. Brought it in, and dropped it in Quaker meeting. Gave it to the Quakers.
GUITAR CASE: Bet they liked that!
PIANO: Well, they were a little upset. But they heard him. They tried to understand where he was coming from. And, in the end, he left here mellower than when he arrived. Point is, it did make a difference.
RUBBER TREE: And they made me a skylight- so my life would be better. But here I am, thirty feet high, all my leaves at the top, and now they'll have no place for me- I'm doomed!
PIANO: Yeah. Remember the Lights Parade? Every year, I watched the parade start outside this window. Floats from every church in town, marching bands from every school.
GUITAR CASE: What happened to the parade?
PIANO: They moved it! I guess Mill Street was more convenient, with its underpass and all. Now it starts on Mill Street.
RUBBER TREE: See, times change! We're obsolete! We're doomed!
PIANO: Those were the good old days, an interfaith place, a warm place to hang around, have a cup of hot cocoa, people aren't going to forget that.
RUBBER TREE: OK, so the place changed the people. But it didn't change the rest of us. Did anyone pick up a book? Did anyone organize the library? Was it all for nothing, or what?
PIANO: You can't say it was all for nothing. Remember the Synergy? Remember the Hillel? Or the Environmentalists, mowing the lawn and hanging around all hours of the night? Look, this place has welcomed so many eaters, you can't imagine. And each one has had an influence. Vegetarian Thanksgivings, Big Muddy Films, you name it.
RUBBER TREE: All I'm saying is, eaters come and go. But they don't care about us. Money is what it is. They're tearing this place down- but why? They need a place that will pay the bills, that's all. This place is old; it's in bad shape, they can't heat it in the winter, can't keep it cool in the summer.
PIANO: You're forgetting about history. Eaters shed blood keeping this place going. Pounds and pounds of old clothes, sold in the midnight rummage sales. You talk about the landfill; this place kept that stuff OUT of the landfill! Remember the time that guy broke Picture Window, down on the ground floor? Or the great Flood?
GUITAR CASE: You know, what you're saying is this: This place did influence people. So, don't you think people influenced the place, too? This building has quite a history, doesn't it?
PIANO: I'm not even telling half of it. You know, these stories remind me.
RUBBER TREE (crying) Yeah?
PIANO: Once there was this little boy. Didn't have a piano at home, used to come by, bang on me once in a while.
RUBBER TREE: Yeah?
PIANO: Yeah. I used to get mad; I was waiting for someone who knew how to play, of course. Rubinstein or someone. You know how it is.
GUITAR CASE: Yeah?
PIANO: Well, it turns out, you make a bigger difference, being there for a boy like that, than you do being there for a musician, you know what I mean? It's like, maybe the boy doesn't know a thing, maybe he's never seen a piano. And maybe I'm the first piano he ever played, you know what I mean?
GUITAR CASE: I've got to get into the library now- it's time for singing.
RUBBER TREE: Say hello to the statuettes.
PIANO: And the books. We never see them.
(GUITAR CASE LEAVES)

ACT TWO

(STATUETTES AT RIGHT, GUITAR CASE ENTERS)
BUDDHA: Guitar case! How are you?
GUITAR CASE: I'm ok. Rubber tree is railing against the tyranny of injustice.
HUGGERS: The only tyrant I accept in this world is the still voice within.
GUITAR CASE: Excuse me?
HUGGERS: Oh sorry, Gandhi quote. Got it from the wallhanging.
GUITAR CASE:I see you statuettes are on the shelf again.
BUDDHA: Old Roof leaked. Right during Quaker meeting. They even moved Huggers over to the bookshelf! Now, we statuettes are a couple of bookends.

(BOOKS ENTER, WAVING BOOKS AND SINGING)
KRSHNA BOOK, ISLAM BOOK, JUDAISM BOOK: Look at me! Look at me! I've got pictures!
(BOOKS LEAVE)

HUGGERS: Hey, what do you hear about the building?
GUITAR CASE: Same as usual. They're going to take it down. But you two have nothing to worry about. You're small; you're portable, you're beautiful. They'll probably take you with them!
BUDDHA: You know, the guy that made me, he was really careful. He took hours and hours.
HUGGERS: Yeah, same with the woman who made me. You think all that work will go to waste?
BUDDHA: What do you mean?
HUGGERS: You know, if the building is torn down, and we have to move...or go someplace where they don't appreciate us?
BUDDHA: Oh, we'll be ok....Even death is not to be feared by one who lives wisely!
HUGGERS: You and your quotes again!
BUDDHA: Om!
GUITAR CASE: Hey, quiet over there! It's time for the music!

CURTAIN CALL