Putting the puzzle pieces together

This past week auditions for our high school musical were held, and decisions made by me broke some hearts. As a high school theater director, my initial job is to select a play that will show off our students' talents. This year I chose "Crazy For You," and after ordering the script, reading it umpteen jillion times, and understanding the incredible talent it required, I realized I was "Crazy For Picking It." It needed serious tap dancers, boys and girls alike, who could also sing and act.

Now, I'm not sure how many of you readers are tap dancers, but trust me, FEW in this area take tap seriously, and fewer yet had taken lessons during the summer to get ready for this opportunity.

Since only a few auditioners were a triple threat--they could sing, dance, and act, filling the roles requiring those talents was easy. After that, it all became fuzzy. Characters who could act couldn't sing loudly. Guys who could act were too short to be paired with a tall girl who could sing and dance. Questions had to be answered: "Is he strong enough to lift her above his head?" "Can she be mean enough?" "Can she be nice enough?" "Can she lift him over her head?" "Does attitude trump talent?" Each auditioner was a puzzle piece that, when shuffled, caused other pieces to move and a different picture to emerge.

Final decisions weren't made until the next morning, and by noon I was ready to post the names of the cast. As I left my classroom I looked like the Pied Piper; eager students had congregated to follow me to the auditorium where they would read of their fate. I taped the list on the door and ran away.

There were shouts of surprise, but there was also silence--and that was groan enough. As students came into my classroom to pick up their assigned script, I noticed that attitudes had changed. Some made little eye contact. Two weren't sure they were going to take the role assigned. And a few made it clear that they deserved a part they didn't get. I understood their frustration.

As a high school student decades ago, I was always too tall to play the lead opposite a male classmate. I would slouch in the auditions, hoping I could fool the director. No such luck. My name would be posted beside the part of the widowed mother or the witch or the spinster secretary. I, like my students this year, couldn't see the big picture. As actors, they and I saw only our little puzzle piece and not what it took to put the entire play together.

As Christians we many times do the same. We question why we aren't the one up front in church, leading praise and worship. Why weren't we asked to head the decorating committee for the annual retreat? Can't anyone see what "elder material" we are? After all, we've paid our dues--they haven't. "Always-the-bridesmaid, never-the-bride" arguments. I remember one young girl who purchased all the back-up CD's and sound equipment to sing solos in church. I was there when she came in to audition. I don't think she hit one note on key. When our praise leader lovingly pointed that out to her, she and her mother huffed away, never to be seen in that church again.

Sometimes God gives us the minor roles to groom us, asking us to do a little more preparation...a spiritual tap dance class, or extra vocal instruction, or more drama experience, if you will. Sometimes He just wants us "backstage," doing all the behind-the-scene's work so we can better appreciate the entire theater experience. And sometimes He's teaching us to not envy, to get rid of our pride, and to trust that He knows what He is doing to make that happen.

One thing I do know is that God never makes a mistake. I pray, come mid-November, I can say the same. But until then, I'm beginning to read scripts for our spring play. If you readers know of any with a cast of 100, all starring roles, please send it my way.