"for He satisfies the hungry and fills the thirsty with good things."

An Audience of One

The world is a stage.


and we act and we play


and we sing and we run


and we laugh and we dance


and the world looks on


with their noses turned up.


and does it even matter


if we try and we cry and we fail and we die?
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If you were any like I was, then you would've grown up thinking that the world is watching your every move. Not nearly as severe as a full-blown Truman Show delusion (indeed, there seems to be such a thing) but a mere feeling of being conscious that the next person is scrutinising your every move. One could say, TV and Internet has conditioned us or our peers and family has conditioned us. But I think it is the inherent nature of man to think that the world revolves around himself (hello, geocentric theory.). He thinks the world is watching so he acts a certain way to fit into the world's mold. or to not fit into it.

Does it matter what the world thinks? It does but only to a certain degree. Sadly many of us think it matters more than it really does. Consciously or unconsciously we build our lives upon this premise that the world is our audience and we seek its approval, or at the very least, it's recognition. We put-on make-up both physical and social. We do our best to see the slightest nod, the faintest cheer or inkling of applause. We hide ourselves away if it does not measure up to the expectations of the world. We give ourselves away in exchange for what would charm this fickle spectator. But in the end, though the world watches, it does not care. There will always be something in us that is inadequate. There will always be someone better. There will always come a time when all applause would be empty. And then the world stops looking. Or we realise that it hasn't really been looking. Do our efforts make a difference? If we live as above then all would be pointless even if we gave our all. Even if we reach what we so most aspire, it ends. But there is another  way.

Photo credits:www.tlclife.org/church_images/whywe.jpg
We are not wrong to think that we have a constant audience, for we do have. My leader asked us to do a daily waking-up exercise (which I have taken up again only this past week) which I had dubbed Shi-or Be-enva-- a surrender. to acknowledge the King and bow before Him. Doing this first thing in the morning feels as if I am making my opening curtsy to my audience of One. It turns my perspective-- the world is not my audience but my stage. But I no longer move just to act for that is futile if my Audience sees through every curtain and trick and script. I begin to learn to move because I mean every action with all my heart, soul, mind and strength. I begin to learn to refine my craft instead of looking at others to copy theirs. It seldom comes easy but it's definitely a better way to go.

God, whether we believe in Him or not, constantly watches. Unlike the world, He sees even through our deepest motives and desires. He sees through all the make-up and props and costumes. But He watches not merely to judge and t0 consume but also to instruct and to empower. Unlike the world, He cares. If the world does not notice, He does. That in itself brings strength to every unnoticed face on the earth just as it calls on a warning for every hidden, wretched deed. But He waits not for us to fail with thunderbolt on hand. He watches-- lovingly, lovingly-- His masterpiece that is our lives. His is the only pair of eyes that would matter for He alone calls the shots. God is both our lone audience and the author of our story. If our lives were to matter in the most enduring way, we will have to learn to live abidingly before those eternal eyes.

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For the world is a stage.


and we dance and we play,


and we laugh and we run.


and it matters because


we pause and we smile and we bow


to our audience


of One.

1 comment:

  1. 'His is the only pair of eyes that would matter for He alone calls the shots. God is both our lone audience and the author of our story. If our lives were to matter in the most enduring way, we will have learn to live abidingly before those eternal eyes.'

    Amen! We are precious in God's sight. :)

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