{"id":431,"date":"2006-04-15T07:56:44","date_gmt":"2006-04-15T13:56:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.joewhite.com\/?p=431"},"modified":"2006-04-15T09:05:09","modified_gmt":"2006-04-15T15:05:09","slug":"text-of-the-scene-roy-and-i-wrote-for-maundy-thursday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.joewhite.com\/ramble\/2006\/04\/text-of-the-scene-roy-and-i-wrote-for-maundy-thursday\/","title":{"rendered":"Text of the scene Roy and I wrote for Maundy Thursday"},"content":{"rendered":"

For those who are interested, here (in the extended section) is the scene Roy Johnson<\/a> and I wrote and performed for the Maundy Thursday service at Bethany<\/a>.
\n
\n\u00a9 Roy E. Johnson and Joe Carl White<\/p>\n

Setting:\tMatthew 26:36-43
\n[<\/span>Goofus is starting to nod off. <\/span>Gallant nudges him.]
\n<\/span>Gallant<\/span>\tHey, Jesus said to stay awake and pray. You want him to yell at us again?
\n<\/span>Goofus<\/span>\tBut I’m tired of praying…I’m just tired, period.
\n<\/span>Gallant<\/span>\tI’m tired, too.
\n<\/span>Goofus<\/span>\tI thought we were going to bed after dinner; I didn’t know we would be coming up here.
\n<\/span>Gallant<\/span>\tWell, he asked us to come up here and pray, and we do what he asks, right?
\n<\/span>Goofus<\/span>\tIf I had known we were coming up here, I wouldn’t have had all that wine.
\n<\/span>Gallant<\/span>\tAnd Peter’s already dozing again….look at him, sleeping like a rock.
\n<\/span>Goofus<\/span>\tMaybe that’s why Jesus started calling him that.
\n<\/span>Gallant<\/span>\tJesus also said Peter was going to deny him three times…that we all were going to deny him.
\n<\/span>Goofus<\/span>\tI’m not denying, I’m just resting!
\n<\/span>Gallant<\/span>\tI don’t like the way things have been going these past few days.
\n<\/span>Goofus<\/span>\tYeah, Jesus has been awful moody.
\n<\/span>Gallant<\/span>\tThe week started out great. It was like he was ready to kick it off and finally claim his kingdom.
\n<\/span>Goofus<\/span>\tWhen he rode into Jerusalem, the people were all with him.
\n<\/span>Gallant<\/span>\tWaving palm branches, singing ‘Hosanna in the highest’
\n<\/span>Goofus<\/span>\tYeah, good times, good times….
\n<\/span>Gallant<\/span>\tBut then there was that scene at the Temple.
\n<\/span>Goofus<\/span>\tDid he have to knock over the tables like that? Those animals for the sacrifice made such a mess.
\n<\/span>Gallant<\/span>\tI didn’t mind him kicking out the merchants and the moneychangers…they needed to go.
\n<\/span>Goofus<\/span>\tI guess that wasn’t so bad…but the talk of tearing down the temple? That really turned folks against us.
\n<\/span>Gallant<\/span>\tI hate it when he gets like that.
\n<\/span>Goofus<\/span>\tIt’s not just embarrassing, it’s dangerous.
\n<\/span>Gallant<\/span>\tAnd rebuilding the Temple in three days? What was that about?
\n<\/span>Goofus<\/span>\tHe’s a good carpenter, but he’s not that good.
\n<\/span>Gallant<\/span>\tHa, ha, ha…will you be serious?
\n<\/span>Goofus<\/span>\tWhat’s with you, Mr. Sourpuss?
\n<\/span>Gallant<\/span>\tI’m just tired, ok? And worried.
\n<\/span>Goofus<\/span>\tI know…I’m worried, too. It seems like all of us have been antsy lately.
\n<\/span>Gallant<\/span>\tI just wish I knew what was going to happen…first he says he’s going to prepare rooms for us, but then he says where he’s going, we can’t follow.
\n<\/span>Goofus<\/span>\tI don’t understand him half the time.
\n<\/span>Gallant<\/span>\tHe’s always talking in riddles. It’s probably what made me want to follow him to begin with, but sometimes it’s just really frustrating. It’s like he’s from some other planet.
\n<\/span>Goofus<\/span>\tWell, I thought tonight he was going to get back on track. When he talked about how he’d been looking forward to coming to Jerusalem for this Passover.
\n<\/span>Gallant<\/span>\tYeah, I was thinking maybe he’d demonstrate his power with more miracles. He hasn’t done many lately.
\n<\/span>Goofus<\/span>\tThere those two blind guys on our way here…other than that, bupkiss.
\n<\/span>Gallant<\/span>\tTonight, a night “different from all other nights,” you’d think he’d do something big.
\n<\/span>Goofus<\/span>\tWell, he washed your feet…
\n<\/span>Gallant<\/span>\tSome miracle.
\n<\/span>Goofus<\/span>\tGetting your feet clean is a miracle.
\n<\/span>Gallant<\/span>\tHey, now. Oh, and speaking of feet, what was with wasting the nard the other day?
\n<\/span>Goofus<\/span>\tNard?
\n<\/span>Gallant<\/span>\tOil. Ointment. Balm, you idiot.
\n<\/span>Goofus<\/span>\tOh, you mean the lady at Simon the leper’s house.
\n<\/span>Gallant<\/span>\tYes….
\n<\/span>Goofus<\/span>\tIt’s hers to use how she likes. Jesus thought it was appropriate.
\n<\/span>Gallant<\/span>\tI thought it was creepy…he was talking like he was going to die.
\n<\/span>Goofus<\/span>\tHe’s been kind of stuck on that lately. Tonight, even: “My body, my blood.” Those are nice images at dinner.
\n<\/span>Gallant<\/span>\tWell, it is Passover. It’s a theme. Except we’re supposed to be spared from death, not anticipating it.
\n<\/span>Goofus<\/span>\tWell, he’s been talking about his death for weeks now. Like on our way to Jerusalem…
\n<\/span>Gallant<\/span>\t…saying how he’s going to be condemned by the religious leaders and handed to the Romans and be crucified and then raised.
\n<\/span>Goofus<\/span>\tHe’s talked about that kind of stuff every now and then, but I didn’t think he meant it. I thought he was speaking in paradiddles again.
\n<\/span>Gallant<\/span>\tParables.
\n<\/span>Goofus<\/span>\tWhatever.
\n<\/span>Gallant<\/span>\tBut now it seems like he’s really intent on making it happen.
\n<\/span>Goofus<\/span>\tWhat do you think ‘it’ is?
\n<\/span>Gallant<\/span>\tThat bit about the shepherd being struck. And his blood being poured out, the “covenant in my blood”. Getting killed.
\n<\/span>Goofus<\/span>\tAnd then being raised up?
\n<\/span>Gallant<\/span>\tYeah…he said he’d be killed, and then be raised, and see us again in Galilee.
\n<\/span>Goofus<\/span>\tWho’s going to raise him? He’s the only one I know who’s raised anybody from the dead. And he can’t do that if he’s dead, himself…can he?
\n<\/span>Gallant<\/span>\tWell, maybe it’s us…I mean, he gave us power to cast out demons and heal the sick, and we’ve done that, haven’t we? Maybe we’re supposed to raise him?
\n<\/span>Goofus<\/span>\tHe did say all things were possible just by asking in prayer with faith. Remember that fig tree?
\n<\/span>Gallant<\/span>\tBut all this, just to meet us in Galilee? I just – don’t – get it. Why can’t we just all go back up there together after Passover? Why all this dying and raising business?
\n<\/span>Goofus<\/span>\tHe said it was to fulfill what was written.
\n<\/span>Gallant<\/span>\tA lot has been written. But there’s got to be more of a point than that. We know he’s the Son of God, right?
\n<\/span>Goofus<\/span>\tShhh…he said not to tell anybody!
\n<\/span>Gallant<\/span>\tNobody’s here…well, there’s Rocky, and he doesn’t count because aleph) he’s one of us, and bet) his snoring would drown out anybody around trying to listen. So answer me.
\n<\/span>Goofus<\/span>\tok, fine…yes, he’s the son of God.
\n<\/span>Gallant<\/span>\tSo how can the Son of God die?
\n<\/span>Goofus<\/span>\tOn a cross, apparently.
\n<\/span>Gallant<\/span>\t[grrrr] But how can he let the Romans kill him? I mean, we’re working for this new kingdom, how can it happen if our King is crucified?
\n<\/span>Goofus<\/span>\tYou got me. I really don’t like thinking like that. This has got to just be…I don’t know, some set-up. Or a test. But if he’s testing me, I’m failing.
\n<\/span>Gallant<\/span>\tSheol, we’re having a hard time just doing the simple things he’s asked of us, like staying awake. He’s already caught us napping twice.
\n<\/span>Goofus<\/span>\tRight. Keep talking.
\n<\/span>Gallant<\/span>\tAbout?
\n<\/span>Goofus<\/span>\tWell, what do you think the kingdom is going to be like?
\n<\/span>Gallant<\/span>\tJesus has said the kingdom is like many things: a pearl, virgins at a wedding, a farmer who planted in good soil….But he also said that it can’t be observed. That it is within us, among us.
\n<\/span>Goofus<\/span>\tThat’s what I don’t get. It’s all riddles and analogies and nothing just out and out. I’m so confused.
\n<\/span>Gallant<\/span>\tI am, too. But, maybe, we’re not supposed to know it all. It’s enough that he knows, and we trust him to be right. And, like the Proverbs say, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and he’ll make straight your paths.
\n<\/span>Goofus<\/span>\tI guess you’re right. And I do trust him. When he says the things I do understand, stuff like how we’re supposed to love God above all else, and to treat everyone like our neighbor, cutting through all the junk those sadducees are always spouting to what God really wants us to do…he just makes sense, ya know?
\n<\/span>Gallant<\/span>\tHe does, indeed.
\n<\/span>Goofus<\/span>\tWell, in any case, I know one thing…I’m gonna be sitting at his right in the kingdom.
\n<\/span>Gallant<\/span>\tOh, don’t start that again.
\n<\/span>Goofus<\/span>\tNo, I’ve finally got one all figured out: he said when he comes back, he was gonna put the sheep on the right and the goats on the left. Well, you’re a Capricorn, and that’s a goat, so you must be on the left, and I\u2019m an Aries, which is the Sheep, so that means I’m on the right!
\n<\/span>Gallant<\/span>\tOh, go to sleep!<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a9 Roy E. Johnson and Joe Carl White<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For those who are interested, here (in the extended section) is the scene Roy Johnson and I wrote and performed for the Maundy Thursday service<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":647,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[5,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-431","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-beliefs","category-random-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pekNN-6X","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.joewhite.com\/ramble\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.joewhite.com\/ramble\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.joewhite.com\/ramble\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.joewhite.com\/ramble\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/647"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.joewhite.com\/ramble\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=431"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.joewhite.com\/ramble\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.joewhite.com\/ramble\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=431"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.joewhite.com\/ramble\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=431"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.joewhite.com\/ramble\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=431"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}