Rent

Last week I went to see the musical “Rent” off-Broadway with Cat. Normally I tweet from the shows that we go see that are primarily quotes. This time I tweeted questions for the church that arose from what I saw.

When Rent came out as feature film a few years ago there was some notable resistance from the church. Of course the people who were pushing back apparently never saw the show because what they made it out to be was very different from how I perceived it.

Rent tells the story of a group of friends in NYC struggling with issues of surviving with HIV and AIDS in the early 1990s. My mind could not cease from going back to some of the comments that were flung around after Hurricane Katrina where religious leaders said the natural disaster was God’s wrath upon “the gays”.

Rent reminds us that we can’t really group people into categories because we miss the beauty and uniqueness of each person. In my theological language its about seeing the God piece in everyone.

Not surprising, I cried at the show. A lot. The tears started when one of the main characters, Angel, died from AIDS. Angel was the drag queen that taught everyone in the show how to authentically love those around them. And the tears did not stop when one of the straight characters was asked what he was running away from – and he replied that he was running from all of his friends who are dying because he is going to be the only one left.

What does it mean to the church that the person who taught everyone to love was a drag queen – someone who most churches would marginalize if not turned away. A clergy friend told me recently that she learned how to love most from a reconciling congregation, but she still would not embrace “them” to be clergy. She missed the picture – the beauty of God that was trying to be shown to her.

The show brought up some of the following questions that I ask you to reflect on:

Who taught you to love well?

Do you truly accept people as they are?

How would you live if you knew that this was your last year on earth?

How would you live if you really had no day but today?

Rent told real stories. Fictional accounts of the reality of so many – impending death, fear of losing loved ones, poverty, living life as best as you can in the moment. And for too many churches there isn’t a safe space to tell these stories without judgement. To learn to love from those whom we encounter.

In addition to the questions the show renewed in me the desire to work for hospice – to simply be those who are losing those ones dear to them and their very life, their source of love. There is something beautiful and true about being in community in the messiness of life. What are you called to do with your life?