I witnessed a miracle!
And it came with the added benefit of a spiritually moving reminder that all human beings, no matter what their circumstances, have untapped potential and deserve recognition and respect.
The setting was a play, “The Fisherman & The Fluke”, produced by Acting Without Boundaries, an arts program for children with physical disabilities. My goddaughter’s son, Flynn, starred as a talking turtle in the adaptation of a Grimm’s brothers fairytale, which focused on “an attitude of gratitude.”
Flynn starred, not because he was one of the leads, but because, like all the participants, but because his performance was transcendent. Despite their disabilities, the intensity, effort, and commitment of the actors and actresses were Broadway-worthy.
If the behind-the-scenes chaos that inevitably accompanies the production of a play somehow always seems to come together just in time for the opening curtain, the execution of this show was divine, a testament to the perseverance and focus and skill and dedication of all involved.
Joyful volunteer teens and adults guided the thespians to their marks on stage and knelt behind them in case line prompts were needed. The leads, both sight-impaired, needed very little prompting, however.
Some participants forgot lines, but were given the time to try and remember them. A couple of them got teary as they tried to recall their lines. That was how important it was to them.
Flynn didn’t forget any lines. He only had a few, but he was invested in them. A day or two before the production, Flynn had suggested that he be allowed to move on the stage. The producers agreed, empowering Flynn to enthusiastically stomp to center stage–in his turtle shell–to admonish one of the leads, and then hurrying back to his place with a big grin.
“He got his spark back,” Flynn’s mother said about her son, whose afflictions make a sometimes cold world a struggle to navigate.
But look what happens when marginalized–but intelligent, invested, aspiring–kids get treated as equals. Without boundaries.
The adults and teen volunteers exuded as much joy as the kids on stage and showed all of us that helping the less fortunate find equal footing is no fluke, maybe not even a miracle, but a result of empathy and love.
Maybe it is a predictable outcome when we empower others as capable and important. Maybe that is the spark we should provide to every human being we encounter.
The Q-View 