Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.  —Plato

It’s true.  It’s also true that the ‘everyone’ of whom Plato is speaking includes me, and you, and each of us.  This makes his admonition all the more challenging because there are two edges to it: be kind…right in the midst of fighting your own battles.  It’s tough to be kind when I’m in the trenches, dealing with my own pains and poverty, be they emotional, physical, relational, financial, spiritual.  I need to work it out, get through it, overcome.  If you’re like me, that means focusing: on me, my pain, and getting rid of it.  Fixate on the pain though, and here’s the irony:  I’ll not only fail to find solutions… I’ll inflict pain on others, intentionally or unintentionally.

These weighty themes are artfully woven into a lighthearted comedy currently making its west-coast debut here in Seattle entitled: Brownie Points.  Set in Forsyth County (yes… of Forsyth County fame), the play gives us a front-row sit for the dialogue of five women joined together because their daughters are all part of the same Girl Scout troop.  They’ve come together for a camping weekend, and the moms are diverse: Jewish, African-American, divorced, and a WASP mom whose son is handicapped.  The mix is a blend of comedy and poignant, challenging realities waiting to happen—and they do.

[Read more...]

Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.  —Plato

It’s true.  It’s also true that the ‘everyone’ of whom Plato is speaking includes me, and you, and each of us.  This makes his admonition all the more challenging because there are two edges to it: be kind…right in the midst of fighting your own battles.  It’s tough to be kind when I’m in the trenches, dealing with my own pains and poverty, be they emotional, physical, relational, financial, spiritual.  I need to work it out, get through it, overcome.  If you’re like me, that means focusing: on me, my pain, and getting rid of it.  Fixate on the pain though, and here’s the irony:  I’ll not only fail to find solutions… I’ll inflict pain on others, intentionally or unintentionally.

These weighty themes are artfully woven into a lighthearted comedy currently making its west-coast debut here in Seattle entitled: Brownie Points.  Set in Forsyth County (yes… of Forsyth County fame), the play gives us a front-row sit for the dialogue of five women joined together because their daughters are all part of the same Girl Scout troop.  They’ve come together for a camping weekend, and the moms are diverse: Jewish, African-American, divorced, and a WASP mom whose son is handicapped.  The mix is a blend of comedy and poignant, challenging realities waiting to happen—and they do.

[Read more...]