Saturday, December 1, 2007

A Wonderful Weekend




It's only Saturday night, and I've already had a spectacular weekend! Last night I got to go to a play--all by myself! And the two stars of the show were my parents! My mom and dad were commissioned to write and present a play about Charles and Sally Wesley at the Bishop's House Party. Dad wrote it (with a few additions and deletions and changes from Mom), and it was a mammoth project. The amount of research alone that he must've had to do to create enough material--it blows my mind. They were fabulous! It was a tremendous amount of memorization, and they both had been expressing their concern over getting it down pat, but they really did a beautiful job. Afterwards they told me they had left out a small portion, but you never would've known it. The whole thing flowed beautifully and I learned so many interesting things about Charles Wesley. I think I've always thought of him as John's sidekick, but there are ways in which he had a greater impact than even John. His hymns alone were a wonderful contribution, but he was also known to be a very good preacher--maybe better than John, actually. Charles and Sally's children were prodigies--musically, but they faced much rejection because of their name. The church of England basically black-balled the Wesleys. I didn't know about the physical attacks that Charles faced--being chased, beaten, having rocks thrown in his face...etc. I think, though, the most interesting thing I found out was that Charles never intended that there be a "Methodist" denomination. He wanted to revitalize the Church of England from the inside out. He didn't really want to give up on it. His hope was that their movement would cause a revival within the Church of England. I hope Mom and Dad will have an opportunity to present this play another time or so, because it really is so interesting, and it's written so that you somehow come away from it with this marvelous new wealth of knowledge but you felt as if you were entertained thoroughly, too.
I have to brag on my dear husband. You'll see him pictured here. He wasn't able to go to the football game Friday night because he had no voice, and his throat has been giving him fits--sore, etc. He loaded up, though, and went with me, and kept the kiddos in the hotel room, allowing me a wonderful time. How kind and loving. I know my folks appreciated having me there, and it would've been difficult if he hadn't joined me.
It was a great time, and I was so proud of my dear mom and dad.

1 comment:

Nonny said...

Okay, so I don't exactly know what I am doing here...you may end up with two messages from me! Whatever, Thanks so much for the encouraging words about our performance and for being there. It was so great to have you there front and center and to find out that you actually "got it" so to speak! You are a blessing! Love, NONNY