I have an old, worn-out VHS tape that I watch each year at least once during Holy Week. It’s of a play that used to be staged by the Pentecostal church in Alexandria, Louisiana called Messiah, which was a sweeping two-hour pageant of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus taken straight from the pages of the Gospels and interwoven with worship music.
On April 8, 2000 President Bill Clinton attended a performance of Messiah, and after the performance he decided to take the stage and make some unscripted remarks to the cast and audience. That’s when something happened that nobody expected: Mr. Clinton admitted publicly, for the first and only time on record, that at some point during the Monica Lewinsky scandal he feared that he would not be allowed to complete his second term as president.
The New York Times immediately printed an article about the President’s momentary candor, but struggled to understand what had moved Mr. Clinton to let his guard down and speak so freely, deciding that it must have been the “rousing performance of Handel’s Messiah”. But in reading some of the President’s other remarks one begins to see that this may not have been just a slip of the tongue, but rather an admission that Mr. Clinton felt comfortable making in that place and at that moment, having been deeply moved by something he experienced that night:
“Well, I am rarely at a loss for words. I use words for a living. I have done reasonably well at it. And I am virtually speechless… “
“I bet I cried through more of this tonight than anybody else here…”
“I’m grateful that one more time in my life I got to sit here and be bathed in the glorious love of all these singers and actors and all the people that put together this Messiah service. It was a blessing that I will have with me for the rest of my life.”
There has been a lot of talk since the Mockingbird Conference about abreaction, which can be defined as a release that brings repressed emotions to the surface so that one can deal with them. Abreaction often occurs for us through movies, literature and plays which we identify with in a particular emotion, and it’s a healthy response—a type of catharsis that helps us to deal with painful or traumatic events.
The Messiah performance must have provided abreaction for Mr. Clinton, allowing him to speak openly and honestly from his heart about something he had carried hidden for some time. The New York Times missed that detail, but you and I as fellow sufferers can certainly understand it.
[My wife] Kerry and I attended a performance of Messiah in 1994, and I think I can shed some light on what affected Mr. Clinton, because it affected me the night I sat in the audience and it affects me every time I pull out my old video.
The play is written so that one can really identify with this character Jesus. He’s so kind and good that one can’t help but love him. Then of course they kill him, and they do so in an arresting way: a series of still-lifes set to music, depicting each step of the whole bloody Good Friday scene, and at the last part the still-life springs to life—people are screaming and wailing, centurions are shouting orders, confusion is everywhere. The cross swings into position, the music stops, and there hangs Jesus, again in still-life.
I think what makes this so powerful is that the faces of the actors are not faces from 2000 years ago, but rather these are actors with faces that look like us today. And when the centurion yells “Get his hands”, he says it in a thick drawl that is immediately familiar to a southern ear. It drives home the fact that average people just like you and I played our parts in the Crucifixion. Indeed, the same event could just as easily have transpired today with you and me shouting, “Crucify, crucify him” as it did some 2000 years ago.
When I see that scene the thought immediately comes to my mind, “Lord, it could have been me killing you. It could have been me mocking you, scourging you, casting lots for your garments, spitting on you and cursing you.” And then I am reduced to only being able to say through my tears, “I’m sorry, Lord. I’m just so sorry for what we did to you.” And then finally, “My Lord and my God” is all that I can say. And there is real abreaction in that moment.
Here is a clip from that scene. It starts with about a minute of music-filled darkness, and ends with silence and still-life.
May the mercy he showed the Thief and the love he showed the Doubter
Be and abide with us all this Good Friday and Easter. Amen
COMMENTS
16 responses to “Abreaction, Messiah and Bill Clinton”
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Thank you for this.
This is a wonderful, unusual piece of writing and insight. Speaks straight to me, like Brian Wilson
powerful post.
What Slick Willy experienced in that moment is what you always hope will happen in church: grace, freedom, repentance, release, hope…
This is great, Jeff.
Thanks so much for the Passion video. Truly moving.
Messiah, I mean.
Thanks for this Jeff.
As an adolescent growing up in a small country church in rural Ohio- we held an Easter “pageant” every year. The show was put on by the entire church and told the whole story of Jesus’ life using the original audio (music and narration) from King of Kings(MGM 1961) and The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965).
We were hardcore. I’m talking straw in the aisles, live animals in the church, smoke machines and strobe lights. The demoniac scene was especially fun as I watched my friend’s father (bank VP by day) run up and down the isles in a burlap bag, foaming at the mouth while rattling his chains in the audience’s face.
I played many characters, but my regular role every year was that of the “good thief” on the cross next to Jesus. It was pretty rough being tied up there in a little white diaper with fake blood everywhere as I mouthed my narrated rebuke to my not-so-good counterpart on the other side of Jesus.
But then Jesus (Max von Sydow) always told me that I’d be in Paradise with him before we died each performance. It was a gospel word to a sufferer: me posing bent-kneed on a 4 inch platform for 30 minutes.
At the end of the show (ascension: black-lit robe elevated by pulleys in the ceiling) we had an altar call to judge the quality of our acting. No pressure.
We always played to a packed house of Amish.
I somehow doubt that we had the same passion evident in the expressions of the actors in this video. They remind me of Bosch, Michelangelo, and Caravaggio!
Thanks again Jeff.
I’m so glad you all enjoyed this.
A little background on Messiah–the Pentecostals of Alexandria Church performed this every year from 1983 to 2004, and at its height in the mid-1990s (this video is from a 1994 performance), the production required 600 volunteers.
The performance took place in their 2,500-seat church, and 30 thousand tickets were offered for sale each year. The tickets were usually sold out in 3 days. The play was performed (I think) 5 nights a week for several weeks before and after Easter.
It was clearly a huge commitment on the part of this church, but also a huge ministry–30 thousand people reached with the message of the Gospel each year, and most of them were not members of the church performing the play because all the members of the church were needed for the production.
If anyone would like to see more of Messiah, I’ve posted the entire crucifixion scene in 3 parts on Youtube (it takes place across 3 songs), plus the resurrection scene. Just look for the tags “Mockingbird, Messiah, Crucifixion, Resurrection”, and you should be able to find them. My Youtube user name is jeffhual. I hope you all enjoy them.
Jeff
Josh- And I thought Ohio was boring. Shut my mouth! Are you sure ya’ll didn’t have some Southerners in that church?
Michael, country is country. Dont matter north or south.
And I love it! As long as I don’t actually have to “live” it, that is. (Kind of reminds me of my theoretical embrace of “suffering” and “weakness” as theological concepts vs. personal realities.. I like to throw a lot of BS around in support of the IDEAS, but the personal reality is mostly a soft bed and a nice restaurant, enjoyed, of course, with a side dish of terribly painful neurosis)
Josh, I’m guessing that posing as the good thief must have been especially rough on you because I’m assuming you were a teenager at the time? I don’t think anyone could have convinced me as a teenager to pose on stage in a diaper no matter what the occasion! I’m sure that took some fortitude on your part…
Honestly, I was just glad that I was the “good” one. I do recall feeling a real sense of absolution every time. Although I hod no idea what absolution was.
Truth be told, I was quite a ham in my day- a natural thespian. Now, I wouldn’t be caught dead in a diaper on a cross.
Wow. What are the implications of my last sentence?
Josh I’m sure you were an excellent Good Thief. And I can identify with your last statement…these days I wouldn’t be caught dead in a diaper on a cross either!
Seriously, though, I love that you felt real absolution every time you performed. That’s speaks volumes…powerful.
visit thepentecostals.org
If you need to replace your old VHS tape. You can purchase this dvd at
http://whitesteeple.stores.yahoo.net/messiahvideo.html
I have been in this particular congregation for 60 yrs this year. I can tell you, the people are full of the passion of Christ. God has blessed us so much and taught us that giving, and picking up the towel ( as in footwashing) to serve the Lord, our families, our country; it is what He was all about. God bless all you with the hope and joy of the empty tomb. gl
Dear gl,
Thank you so much for your kind words! I can’t express how much that evening I spent in your church meant to me. You all truly have a powerful ministry. My wife grew up in that area and saw Messiah for years as a teen and a young adult, and still every time she and I watch the crucifixion scene, the tears come afresh.
May God continue to bless you all in your ministry-
Jeff