![](\"https:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/_dmDaLWNETzg\/Sxs2Qi7hUuI\/AAAAAAAAAng\/oypYqa2-WMs\/s320\/Godspell\")
<\/a>I was one year into an alternative spiritual trip that left the Episcopal Church in the rear-view mirror. Just then, this hippie-dippie musical inspired by \u201cHair\u201d and based on the Gospel of Matthew arrived on the scene. And, despite all my alternative yearnings, something inside me said, You will never stop being a Christian!<\/p>\nHave you even heard (of) the songs \u201cPrepare ye the way of the Lord<\/a>\u201d or \u201cDay by Day<\/a>\u201d? No, I didn\u2019t think so. So how can you understand what that time was like?<\/p>\n We were all looking for God, Krishna, Allah, Yahweh, Whatever His Name (we didn\u2019t really care, it was all good). But even when I might have seemed farthest from my Christian roots, I couldn\u2019t help loving \u201cGodspell.\u201d<\/p>\n I saw the touring production that left New York for Boston in, what, 1971? I saw the movie in 1973. Although I would take another 35 years to find the Catholic Church, there was something about this musical that sank its teeth into me and never let go.<\/p>\n Strangely, I thought of \u201cGodspell\u201d this Saturday afternoon at confession. In giving me my penance, Father Barnes referred to the opening prayer in the liturgy for the Second Sunday in Advent:<\/p>\n God of power and mercy, open our hearts in welcome. Remove the things that hinder us from receiving Christ with joy, so that we may share his wisdom and become one with him when he comes in glory\u2014<\/i><\/p>\n As I went for a walk after confession and pondered my penance, I thought of the lyrics to \u201cPrepare Ye the Way of the Lord.\u201d Which, by the way, are hippie-dippie simplicity at their best (worst?): Prepare ye the way of the Lord, Prepare ye the way of the Lord . . . <\/i>(and so on). How do we prepare the way of the Lord? How do we remove the things that hinder us from receiving Christ with joy?<\/p>\n That\u2019s question enough for this Advent season. Over and out! Posted by WebsterThrowing down the gauntlet to my Catholic brother and fellow YIMC blogger, Frank Weathers\u2014 The year was 1970, when you were\u2014what\u2014six years old?! That\u2019s when \u201cGodspell\u201d opened off Broadway, five years after Vatican II, one year after Woodstock. It totally rocked my world. And you were in what, kindergarten? How could you understand, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":143,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[21],"class_list":["post-1609","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-culture","tag-music"],"yoast_head":"\n
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