Jesus and Siddhartha
January 15, 2009
BECOMING BUDDHA / BECOMING CHRIST
By j. SNODGRASS
The Characters:
- Siddhartha
- Jesus
The Setting :
There is a large projected image in the background ‚Äì on one side, a very round golden Buddha statue.¬† On the other side, an emaciated, bloody, crucified Christ.¬† As the play begins, SIDDHARTHA sits up, meditating.¬† JESUS is curled on the ground asleep.¬† Then he awakens…
JESUS : …Where am I?¬† Ow…¬† My head…¬† I was praying…in a garden…¬† I must have fallen asleep.
SIDDHARTHA : I also fell asleep, beneath a tree.  I saw you here sleeping.  I recognized you.
JESUS : Yeah, I do a lot of public speaking.  That bit about the sower of seeds, who just scatters them, willy-nilly?  I came up with that.  The crowds love it.
SIDDHARTHA : …Ah, yes.¬† A joke.¬† For in truth there is no sower.¬† There are no seeds.
JESUS : …Well, not literally, no.¬† It’s just a story.
SIDDHARTHA : But your…stand-up comedy is not how I know you.¬† I’ve seen you in visions, worshiped¬† as the Christ, the only son of God, who was with God before all things came into being.
JESUS : (Pause.¬† Then he laughs) Oh!¬† So you’re the comedian.¬† Only son of God!¬† That’s rich!¬† Just wait till I tell the guys I hang out with!¬† I couldn’t use it my routine, though, because it’s…you know…blasphemy.
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A Short Play based on 1 Peter
May 29, 2008
FIRST PETER
Based on 1 Peter 2:4-10
By j. Snodgrass
12 April, 2008
The Characters
PETER
MAN (Can be played by a Man or Woman)
ISAIAH
PETER : (Standing on a soap-box, preaching to passers-by) Hear Ye! Hear Ye! Love God, and honor the Emperor! Slaves obey your masters, especially when they’re cruel! Remember, the more abuse you take on Earth, the greater your reward in Heaven!
MAN : (Walking by, very tired, hears PETER) …What is this, a comedy routine?
PETER : (Ignores him) Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, and grow up in your salvation. You are coming to Christ, the living cornerstone of God’s temple. Rejected by people, but chosen by God for great honor. And you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple.
MAN : But I just spent the whole day breaking my back, hauling stones for a new Coliseum!
PETER : What’s more, you are his holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices that please God. As the Scriptures say, “I am placing a cornerstone in Jerusalem, and anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.” (Isaiah 28:16)
MAN : Where do the scriptures say that?
PETER : Isaiah, chapter twenty-eight.
MAN : Yeah, but you’ve gone and taken it completely out of context! Isaiah twenty-eight isn’t about making sacrifices! It’s about lying priests getting drunk! And the Lord destroys their city!
PETER : Well maybe the cup’s half empty for you, but—
MAN : I’ll tell you what the cup is filled with! In Isaiah 28:8 “All the tables are covered with vomit and there is not a spot without filth.”
PETER : That’s disgusting. Besides, you’ve got to read between the lines. Isaiah was confused, obviously, but one thing he was sure of was the coming of Jesus the Christ – that’s what he meant by the cornerstone!
MAN : What? You have no idea what you’re talking about!
PETER : I’m entitled to my interpretation.
MAN : But I actually happen to have Isaiah, right here.
a twentysomething’s love/hate relationship with the bible
April 16, 2008
In 1818, an 18-year-old named Mary Shelley wrote a novel called Frankenstein. I have never read it, but have picked up the basic plot from movies and such. A brilliant doctor decides that he will create the perfect man, using pieces of dead people. The man he creates will be of surpassing good-looks, and the doctor will teach him kindness, compassion, love ‚Äì all that’s best in humanity will be embodied in this perfect person. But once the creature is brought to life, the doctor becomes frightened and runs away. His creation follows him across Europe, demanding ‚Äúyou created me to be the best that humanity has to offer. You built me from scraps of the past, and promised to fill me with compassion and love, to bring about a better future. You have not kept your promise.‚Äù We’re all familiar with the story ‚Äì the creature keeps following him, and hurting the people he loves. The creature that was meant to be beautiful, wise, caring, intelligent…is feared and dreaded, chased away, and becomes a murderer. A monster.
This novel was probably written to caution people entering the industrial age ‚Äì be careful what you design to aid in human life, there will be consequences. But when I think of this story, I see another parallel, that I do not believe the author intended. Some of us may be aware of a book…called The Bible. Written over the course of more than a thousand years, assembled in its final form some seventeen hundred years ago. Built from scraps of the past, to represent all that’s best about humanity. Designed to bring a message of hope and compassion for the future. And it keeps on asking us, ‚Äúwhen are you going to fulfill the promises made on these pages?‚Äù And in fear and dread we run from it. And it follows us. And sometimes it hurts us, and the ones we love.
RICH AND POOR: Two Worlds or One Family? by J.Snodgrass
April 7, 2008
RICH AND POOR: TWO WORLDS OR ONE FAMILY
Presentation given by J.Snodgrass for the Marble Collegiate Church Young Adults 20s/30s
Every year, the gap between rich and poor gets wider. The title I was given for this presentation – “Rich and poor, two worlds…” reminded me that in economic terms we actually have three worlds on this Earth ‚Äì the first world, capitalism, the second world, communism, and the third world, “other,” which has become synonymous with whole nations of people living in abject poverty. The recent disaster in New Orleans was yet another reminder that, although America is a first-world country, there’s a third world in here, too, a small nation’s worth of people that our own government left behind and forgot once the first-class citizens had been rescued.
Every year the chasm gets wider, and every year I’m reminded of a story Jesus told in the Gospel according to Luke chapter sixteen, about an un-breach-able chasm.
Luke 16:19-26
“There was a rich man…dressed in purple and fine linen who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man’s table; even the dogs would come and lick his sores. The poor man died and was carried away by the angels to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried.
In Hell, where he was being tormented, [the rich man] looked up and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side. He called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in agony in these flames.’
But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, and Lazarus [got nothing]; but now he is comforted here, and you are in agony. Besides all this, between you and us a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who might want to pass from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.’
So here we’ve got this rich man, dead, suffering, and what does he say to Abraham? ‘Send that boy down here, that poor boy that used to lie outside my gates, tell him to fetch me some water.’ Even dead, burning in Hell, this rich man has not learned his lesson. But the chasm cannot be traveled, even if Lazarus had wanted to. This rich man could have spared himself all that suffering, if he had bridged the chasm in life, but never had he reached out to invite this poor man to his table. The story continues…
BRING PEACE TO A WARRING WORLD, Skit by j.Snodgrass
March 20, 2008
PRESENTATION – BRING PEACE TO A WARRING WORLD
By j. Snodgrass
Sadly, war in the East is nothing new ‚Äì some of us may remember Operation Desert-Storm. Some of the older ones among us may remember…the Crusades… There might even be a person or two in the room who remember the Hebrews invading Israel some thirty-three hundred years ago, and how they were in turn attacked by the Philestines, the Persians, the Babylonians and the Romans… And those who remember all that ‚Äì what are you still doing in the 20’s/30’s group? You know who you are…
With all this history of conflict, the question is…How do we bring peace to a warring world? And to answer the question, I’ve opened the lines for some Biblical figures to give us their unput. Hello?
GOLIATH : Urrrrrr…
NARRATOR : Ur to you too. Who may I ask is calling?
GOLIATH : I am Goliath.
NARRATOR : And where are you calling from?
GOLIATH : Gath.
NARRATOR : And how is Gath this time of year?
GOLIATH : Urrrrrr…
NARRATOR : Same here in New York, I hear ya. So we’re wondering. How would you bring peace to a warring world?
BRING PEACE TO A WARRING WORLD, PART II by j.Snodgrass
March 20, 2008
PRESENTATION – BRING PEACE TO A WARRING WORLD, PART II
By j. Snodgrass
James 1:19-27
You must understand this, my beloved: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; for your anger does not produce God’s righteousness. Therefore rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like. But those who look into…the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act– they will be blessed in their doing. If any think they are religious, and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God…is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
Unstained, undefiled by the world. It reminds me of a sleep-away-camp skit I saw once saw. A little girl held a clean, white sheet of paper. And someone stomped onto the stage, grabbed her piece of paper away and crumpled it. She picked it up and held it. Someone else walked across, took the sheet of paper, threw it to the ground and stomped on it. She smoothed it out and held it again, but it looked so different from what we’d seen at first. Finally, a third person stomped across the stage, grabbed the paper and ripped it, throwing both pieces to the ground. This time the girl did not pick it up. She just looked at us. A fourth person walked on, picked up the two pieces, smoothed them out, held the pieces together and handed it back to the girl.
Anybody ever wake up with a sheet of paper like that? Anybody ever look in the mirror and say ‘Jesus called me the light of the world, and today I’m gonna let it shine’? Anybody ever bring a sheet of paper like that onto the subway at rush-hour? When I was growing up, we moved around a lot. And I remember the first day of school in New Jersey, first day of school in Ohio, first day of school in Western New York…me and my clean sheet of paper. And then a few days later in the principal’s office, waiting for my parents to show up, because I’d been fighting again. But look what they did, I always tried to say. Look what they did to my clean sheet of paper.
FACING OUR FEARS (Or… Naked, But Not Afraid)
By j. Snodgrass
Proverbs 3:5-24 (Wildly Abbreviated)
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight. 6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. 7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil. … 13 Happy are those who find wisdom… 15 She is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with her. … 21 My child, do not let these escape from your sight: keep sound wisdom and prudence, … 23 Then you will walk on your way securely and your foot will not stumble. 24 If you sit down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.
Proverbs 1:7 tells us that “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge.” Ironically, as we find in Genesis 3:10, knowledge was the beginning of fear. Once Adam and Eve have eaten of the tree of knowledge, their first act is to hide from God. Because for the first time they are aware that they are naked.
Fascinating to find that fear of the Lord did not prevent them from breaking the one rule in the Garden…not to eat of the tree of knowledge, not to break the first covenant with God ‚Äì that the Lord would take provide for them. Their fear begins as they come to realize that they have insulted the Lord by seeking the knowledge to provide for themselves.
Adam and Eve, expelled from the Garden, made clothing for themselves, but they were still naked. They learned to provide food for themselves through toil and hardship, but they were still afraid.
Thousands of years later, we work to buy clothing and food for ourselves, but we are still naked and afraid. Henry David Thoreau described modern life with the expression “quiet desperation.” No matter how well we provide for ourselves, one wrong step on the high-wire and we lose everything, with no Garden of Eden to go back to.
From Genesis three onward, fear is a constant theme in Biblical texts. The words “Be not Afraid” appear eighty-five times in the Bible, twelve times on the lips of Jesus. Maybe because he knew that Adam and Eve ran naked from the Lord, and we’ve been running naked ever since, frightened that God and Man alike will see how exposed we really are.
God’s Own Image (or God and the Simpsons)
February 29, 2008
GOD’S OWN IMAGE
(Presentation for “God and the Simpsons” Discussion at Marble Collegiate Church)
j. Snodgrass
24 February, 2008
There’s an episode of the Simpsons called “Homer the Heretic,” where Homer stops going to church. In this episode, he has a vision in which he meets God, and the two of them take a walk together in the clouds.
Now, in Deuteronomy 4, The Lord says…
Deuteronomy 4:15-19 You saw no form of any kind the day the LORD spoke to you at Horeb out of the fire. Therefore watch yourselves very carefully, so that you do not become corrupt and make for yourselves an idol, an image of any shape, whether formed like a man or a woman‚Ķany animal‚Ķor any bird‚Ķor any fish…. And when you look up to the sky and see the sun, the moon and the stars‚Äîall the heavenly array‚Äîdo not be enticed into bowing down to them and worshiping things the LORD your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven. (NIV)
The God of the Israelites refuses to be depicted in any sculpture or image, and yet many of us do have a picture in mind of what God might look like. If you would, please close your eyes a moment, and see if you have a mental image of God.
Would anyone here like to share what they saw?
JESUS and the SATAN (skit by j. Snodgrass)
February 9, 2008
JESUS and the SATAN
-or-
Meeting the Devil’s Advocate in the Desert
By j. Snodgrass
Presented 3 February, 2008
READERS :
Narrator (Bible Student)
“Luke” (Author of the Gospel According to Luke)
Jesus (Live Free or Die)
Devil (Advocate of Alternate Strategies)
Moses (Supposed Giver-of-the-Law in Deuteronomy)
NARRATOR : Today, in honor of the Lenten Lectionary, we’re going to take a look at my all-time favorite Biblical passage – The temptation of Jesus in the desert, in the Gospel of Luke, Chapter four, verses one to thirteen. As a matter of fact, I love this passage so much, we’re going to hear it twice!
‚ÄúLUKE‚Äù : Jesus…was led by the Spirit in the desert, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry. The devil said to him,
DEVIL : “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”
JESUS : “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone.’”
“LUKE” : The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world.
by j. Snodgrass
Given 26 January, 2008
When I finished college at 21, the first piece of advice I got was this : Kiss your twenties good-bye – nobody gets anywhere in their twenties anymore. I resisted, I denied, and then I worked some jobs, ate some pizza, lived in some apartments, smoked some cigarettes, and here I am, just around the corner from thirty. Wow. And then I found out that this is some kind of cultural phenomena – the vanishing twenties, the disappearing decade, the lost years.
How did this happen? When did it begin? Well, I decided to start my search way back, in the opening book of the Bible, see if it might shed some light. And I found the results pretty comforting. Take Abraham, for example, when the Lord told him about fatherhood.
Genesis 17:17 ‚Äì ‚ÄúAbraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?” (NIV)
Abraham’s wife Sarah had a similar reaction to motherhood.
Genesis 18:12 – “Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, ‘After I am worn out and my [husband] is old, will I now have this pleasure?’”
And then of course there’s old Noah, who built the ark. But when I say ‘old’ I really mean, as we read in Genesis 7:6, “Noah was six hundred years old when the floodwaters [swelled] the earth.” (NIV)
Noah, what happened? “Well, I worked some jobs, ate some matzo, lived in some huts, smoked my pipe and here I am, just around the corner from six hundred.”
And then I started wondering‚Ķwhere was Jesus in his twenties? The gospel of Luke has him at age twelve, making mischief in the Temple and then‚Ķhe‚Äôs thirty years old, being baptized for repentance…