Breathing Life into Words

The Odd Couple, Barefoot in the Park, The Goodbye Girl, Lost in Yonkers. These are just a few of the most notable plays written by Neil Simon. I’ve read his two autobiographical books, “Rewrites” and “The Play Goes on.” Twice. I find him inspiring, hilarious and a truly, truly gifted writer. In his autobiographies he writes about the process, the agony and thrill of being a script writer. The pressure to write well, the constant threat of failure hovering at the mind’s and heart’s door. And the incredible surge of joy when words worked and people responded.

Last week as I stood amongst my fellow Willow Creek actors, I found myself looking around and feeling so grateful for them on a different, more personal level. Many, if not most of them, at one point in our “drama careers” acted in one of my scripts. And I gotta tell you, there is nothing like handing your script over to actors and watching them breathe life into your words. 

But it didn’t always begin wonderfully. As Neil also experienced. When the script is first given to the actors, you’re a bit of a mess. You have this idea of what it should look like and sound like and when it doesn’t match your dream, you begin to panic. But Neil’s director, Mike Nichols, pulled Neil aside at one point and set him straight. When actors are first given a script, you can’t expect the end product. They need time. Time to get to know the words and the character. Time to go through the process of learning and owning the words for themselves.

And that’s absolutely true. Once the actors took my script in hand and lived with it for a while, they soon began to own the words for themselves and find their character, to the point where they soon took the script from words on a page to life on a stage. It was an incredible experience for me. And, I hope, for our audience, as well.

This week as I’ve lingered here in these memories, I couldn’t help but think about God. And the script that he wrote for us. And what it must be like for him when we breathe life into his words. I wonder if he, too, like me, can be found pacing at the back of the room, waiting and anticipating the performance that is about to take place. Hoping and praying that all the hard work that has gone into the memorization of these words will finally be lived out in a breath-taking way. Where the “audience” receives it, believing that everything they’re seeing and hearing is true. That it’s not just a script or verses being spoken, but heart-felt words filled with authenticity and honesty.

The 10 Commandments were written by God’s hand. Both sets. As a writer I get that. One of my requests as a writer for Willow Creek was that if some rewriting was needed, the script was to be returned to me. I didn’t want anyone else working on it. Because their voice would be different from mine. And if the audience was really listening, they would be able to tell.

The West Wing ran for 7 seasons. It was written by Aaron Sorkin - another hero of mine. But something happened in Season 5. From the first episode it felt different, didn’t sound right. The humor was off, the characters were a little more edgy, the rhythm didn’t work. Well, it’s because Aaron was no longer writing. Other writers stepped in. They did a great job, but it just wasn’t the same.

So is it no surprise that God didn’t let Moses write down the 2nd set of the 10 Commandments. Even though he was there when they were first written. For God, it was too much of a risk. Moses’ interpretation, his way of writing would have had a completely different tone than God’s. So God insisted that he write them again. Moses understood that and he reiterated this later to the Israelites. “Do not add to or subtract from these commands I am giving you.”

Don’t change the script. Don’t take any liberties. I have a specific voice. And that’s the voice that God wants us to memorize and “perform.” Just like the actors of my scripts. Sometimes, although rarely, they would ask what I was going for with a specific line or scene. All I had to do was describe it to them and off they went.

And God does the same for us. If we seek him and ask him, he'll give us direction. OR, like a good director will sometimes do, he’ll let us play and improv until we find it. To make it our own. 

In order to move and change our audience. To bring about laughter, joy, sometimes heart-ache and, if we’re lucky, life change. All because we took his script and breathed life into his words.