Rev. Anne
A Hard Nut to Crack
And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. Ezekiel 36:26 NLT
Our Thanksgiving was full of family, food, and … ballet, of all things. One of our sons got tickets to The Nutcracker Ballet at the Kennedy Center. We arrived early and spent the better part of an hour exploring the Hall dedicated to President John F. Kennedy. I was in the upper grades of elementary school during his presidency, and like so many memories from the past, mine were a mixture of childhood optimism about the future and angst about the threat of nuclear war made worse by bomb drills and the Cuban Missile Crisis. High on list of hope were the Civil Rights movement, international partnerships and exchanges of arts and artists, and the women’s movement. Then, on a horrific day in November 1963, when the final hours of a very normal school day were interrupted by news of Kennedy’s assassination. It was sobering to take that walk down memory lane, to a time 61 years ago when we had such high hopes that the world, led by the U.S.A., was becoming a better place.
I walked into the Concert Hall at the Kennedy Center with a heavy heart, feeling despair that my children or my grandchildren, or their children will ever see the fruition of such hopes.
Then the lights went down, the orchestra hit the first few notes, and the curtain went up. I was drawn into the beauty of the scenery, the passion of the music, and the graceful athleticism of the dancers. Without any words being uttered, just music and dance, I was swept up by the beauty, the creativity, the hard work that made for flawless movements, and the children in the cast, especially the young boy and girl of color who danced the main characters.
Without conscious thought, it came to me that I was witnessing hope writ large upon the stage. Individuals working together, dancing to music that is well over one hundred years old, composed in 1892 by Tchaikovsky, a Russian. The beauty and the creativity reminded me of God, brought tears to my eyes, and somehow softened my hopeless heart. If humans made in God’s image can create such beauty, without even using words, imagine what can happen when we learn to listen to and dance to the beauty of God and God’s creation. For many, these are hard times, anxious times, for good reason. At the same time, beauty, cooperation, music and lights are happening. And the darkness has not overcome the light. Therefore, I hope.
Franz Kafka wrote, “God gives the nuts, but he does not crack them.” In my case, it was the Nutcracker, of all things, that cracked open my heart to hold hope. Thanks be to God.