Looking Back at the 2012 Lamplighter Guild {part three}

  The next day (Monday) all of the students in the Dramatic Arts were able to go to all of the available classes for that track so that we might be able to see which ones we would like to pursue further after having a bit of experience in them.

  

  My group, rotation group #1, started out by going to Todd Busteed's "Sound Design" class.  At the beginning of the class, Mr. Busteed had each of us introduce ourselves, name our hometown and the most common sound that we would hear in it.  I inwardly snickered.  As some of the students mentioned church bells I was thinking- suburbs = motorcycles?  I would have loved to say, "The waves on the beach- clapping down on the sand, seagulls circling above, children laughing and squealing with delight..." ah, so romantic... but unfortunately I'm too legalistic for that.  Come on, would you really hear that above the cars zooming by on US1?  For anyone else who was in this class with me that may be reading this:  I can be poetic- just way too honest. :-)  I ended up mentioning common sounds in my household- it's home, right?

  One thing that really stuck out to me in Mr. Busteed's class was this: don't wait around for someone to "discover" you.  Don't be waiting for the "right opportunity" to arise in which you can
live your dream and go work for a big company- don't wait for someone to come "pick you".  Pick. Your. Self.  (I know, I know, "yourself" is one word- but that's how I heard it!)  We now have enough technology to where you can do amazing things- all by yourself.  For example, if I were to ever want to record an album, I wouldn't need to go to a studio, find a producer, sign a contract with a record company, etc, etc, etc- when I have recording software, a laptop, a microphone, a USB guitar cord, headphones all set up in my bedroom- why not just try it out myself?  I could make videos of the recordings and post them to YouTube... Now, not that I am condemning the latter idea at all- just why not take advantage of the fact that we don't have to make any huge commitments when we can just experiment where we are- do what we love- and then perhaps God will have someone "discover" us.  But we should be faithful to be doing and practicing the talents that He has given us in the meantime...

  The next class that we attended was one that I had been anticipating with delight- one of the main reasons that I had wanted to come to the Guild: Kathy Buchanan's "Script Writing" class.  The first thing that I noticed about her was the graceful and soft-spoken way about her.  I believe it was that day that she came up to me, put her arm around me (I had never met her before!) and thanked me for leading worship the night before (more about that later)- and encouraged me in it.  Even as she was teaching us, just her sweet way of speaking and her humble spirit- as well as maybe a little hint of cynical sarcasm that glimmered in her eye every once in a while- made her such an awesome teacher.  She was so easy to listen to and follow!

  Mrs. Buchanan spoke about the basics of storytelling- both the practical as well as the spiritual.  One of the first things that she mentioned that really encouraged me was that God is the ultimate storyteller- and the desire to tell stories and to create stories is a reflection of His nature within us!  When we are crafting a tale, we are emulating Him... 

 Jesus told stories to teach large crowds of people lessons without just merely stating the facts. Mrs. Buchanan explained to us that many times telling stories can give more depth of information than if we were to simply blurt out the lesson plainly.  I can testify to this myself- if my dad were to tell me, "You must have loyalty!" it doesn't mean as much as when he says, "Do you remember Gerty's loyalty for Willie?"  It brings back remembrance of the story (The Lamplighter for those of you who would like to know) in which my heart was wrenched with that of Gerty's- I could feel her pain, I understood her confusion- yet I marveled at her resolve to stay loyal to her love.  It helps me to "see" and apply the lesson to my life more easily than if I were to merely hear the words.

Here's some perspective: 

One year after the Disney movie Bambi came out, deer hunting went down 50%.

Think storytelling has lasting effects?

What if Jesus were to simply say, "You must have a firm foundation to your life!" instead of giving the illustration of the house built on the rock?  What if God simply told us that He was faithful, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness- and not tell us the stories about the grumbling Israelites in the wilderness?  What if Nathan simply went up to David and said, "You know what you did!  Repent, you wicked man!" instead of giving the heart-wrenching story of the rich man and the poor man's lamb?  

 Storytelling is huge.  It's all throughout the Bible as a tool to soften and pry hardened hearts toward God's mercy...  why wouldn't we want to take part in emulating it?

...to be continued.

If this is the first post that you have seen relating my attendance to the Lamplighter Guild, you may want to check out parts one and two as well :-)