MY SECRET LIFE

I suspect by the time anyone from my church reads this, the word will already be out. I have been living a secret life. Since September, I have been *gasp* acting as a member of the Golden Troupers. We are, as the director says at each performance, the traveling arm of the Civic Theatre. That makes us sound as if we were akin to the touring company of Wicked, but that's not quite a fair comparison. We are a bunch of over 55 performers who sing and do readers' theater at various clubs, churches, organizations–just about anywhere in the county they invite us. We volunteer our time to give people some entertainment and, if they are feeling generous, raise funds for the educational programs of the Civic Theatre. It's a win-win-win situation. Everyone benefits, although there are occasions during a performance when we are asked, "Are you nearly finished?" I suspect no one ever asked that of Sir Laurence Olivier, but we aren't quite in his league.

I haven't told many people about this sideline of mine, but it turns out that on December 2, we Troupers are performing at my church's Christmas Party. I didn't know the Troupers were going to perform at this event before I joined, and the church certainly didn't know they'd get me when they invited the Troupers. Life journeys sometimes take strange side roads.

I have to admit there was a reason for my delving into this volunteer organization. A few years ago I took some psychological tests to see if I was properly prepared for retirement sometime down the road. The report came back with all sorts of red flags. I was so much tied up in my profession, that I had no viable interests other than work. Essentially that meant that when I retried, I would have no purpose or direction. Well, I’ve seen what happens to people in that setting. They sit around waiting to die.

Fortunately I ran across this opportunity to try out for the Troupers. I am grateful to a talented young lady in my congregation who is in the musical theater program at her high school. She ran me through some cold reading of a script so I would be prepared for the sort of thing the Troupers do. (Thank you Miss A.) It worked well enough because they let me join. They are a great bunch of people, and I’ve learned quite a few things from them. Most of the skits we do were written by the talented D, former chairman and current director. They are really very good, nicely written, and quite funny. The new chairman of our group, S, is impressive. She has to be a combination producer, director, stage manager, and chief administrator. She's really good at casting people in the right roles. Thus, I generally play off-beat, weird people. I'm doing an elf this week.

People who don't know me wouldn't realize how strange this part of my life is. For that matter, people who knew me 40 years ago would have trouble predicting any part of my life as it has worked out. You see, I'm an introvert. On the Myers-Briggs scale I am almost as far over on the introversion scale as you can get. Had I taken that test when I was still in my teens, the school guidance counselor would have recommended my most suitable career path as "hermit" or possibly "mad scientist." Instead, I followed professions that put me smack dab in front of people all the time. First, I was a musician; vocal-choral music education was my specialty. Not only did I have to sing and play in front of people, I had to lead groups of people in doing so. And then I became a clergyman. Every week I have to stand in front of people leading worship and delivering a sermon good enough to bring them back another week. And then I taught philosophy and religion at a university, another very public role.

My musical training is probably what allows me to do any of these things. Any musician who can't perform in front of people is essentially useless. You either learn to overcome your shyness, or take up some other occupation. (One of my professors did suggest I pursue forestry as a career, but he was a little strange.)

Something I learned about being a pastor and about teaching was that you have to be an actor. It doesn't matter who you are underneath, you must put on the persona of pastor or teacher or you fail. Some people might consider that dishonest, but it is the way all people function. We learn to play roles. Having discovered that, it was a short step to playing the role of an actor.

"All the world is a stage, And all the men and women merely players," Shakespeare tells us in As you like it. I wonder if that's anything like saying life is a journey and we are but pilgrims on the way?

May the Lord God bless you on your way and greet you on your arrival.

Wayne