A Leap of Faith
Posted by Martha Lavey on 2/13/2009I have this little book called Always We Begin Again: The Benedictine Way of Living by John McQuiston. Frank Galati gave me a copy of it years ago and I have since given it to many friends and family members. It’s McQuiston’s contemporary adaptation of the sixth century Benedict of Nursia’s directions for a monastic life. McQuiston found great wisdom in the simplicity of Benedict’s instruction and wanted to make the document available to the contemporary reader, engaged, as he is, in the world as a non -monastic. In a chapter entitled “Right Relationship,” McQuiston writes, “We all have our own perception of, and relationship to some God. We may not use the name “God.” We may think in terms of Reality, Nature, The First Cause, The Behavior of the World, The Other, The All, The Ground of Being, The Force of Evolution, The Life of Spirit, or Things As They Really Are. Each of us creates an image of the supreme mystery in which we find ourselves, and we are always in relationship with it.”
When we were thinking about our 2009-2010 season, we began with the idea that we wanted to pursue the idea of Faith. Perhaps when we began our reading, we thought we would be pursuing the more conventional manifestations of religious faith but what evolved was an idea of Faith that was more in compliance with what McQuiston describes as our relationship to an image of “the supreme mystery in which we find ourselves.” We realized that we were pursuing belief, and the leaps of faith we make in owning our authenticity, our story of the world.
What intrigues me in McQuiston’s description of belief is how frequently that faith-compact is an unconsciously held one. We have our–perhaps unconscious–conviction about Reality (Things As They Really Are), and we negotiate the world through that conviction.
In each of the plays that we are producing in our 2009-2010 season, there is buried a belief, a faith, in some system that directs the course of life. Our hope, in bannering these plays under the theme of Belief, is that we will engage in a conversation with you about the faith-compacts held by the characters of these plays–as a means both to reveal them interpretively, and to encourage the discovery of our own belief systems. What is it, after all, that we hold to be the “the Truth,” “Reality,” “The Behavior of the World”? And how do we relate to that? Does my personal compact empower me, humble me, anger me, resign me?
I think the question of Faith, especially when considered within this frame that includes both religious and secular faith, is critical to this cultural moment. The world is very confusing at the moment. The political power of the world has been re-ordered: our “first world/third world,” “enemy/partner” designations are in revision. The economic conditions are unprecedented. The American Dream is cloudy. Moving through this moment requires a leap of faith. Our new administration is asserting a vision that is largely dependent on a collective willingness to revise our conviction about the realities that define our world. This administration is encouraging us to see the world in a new way, a way that asserts that the Ground of Being has shifted.
The theatre offers us an opportunity to hone our interpretive acumen in the narrative of faith and belief. If we direct our attention to teasing out the unspoken belief systems in these plays, and extend that inquiry into our own lives, I think we better prepare ourselves as citizens. We loosen our grip on Reality as a pre-ordained fact and begin to see the forces that construct our personal and collective images of Things As They Really Are.
I look forward to the conversation we will have in our 2009-2010 season. I welcome this conversation in our post-show discussions, on our blog, in the lobby, over your dinner after the show. I hope you will avail yourself of the resources in our newsmagazine, Backstage, and through our website where you will find conversations with the artists on our productions about each of the plays. I encourage you to tell us what you want and need to enhance your experience of the plays. You are always welcome to contact me or any of our staff members to talk about your experience at Steppenwolf.
February 17th, 2009 at 5:25 pm
Faith. Fair enough. I see how that works for most of the plays, and am pretty excited about some of them. I can’t *believe*, though, that you’re doing a season with “Faith” as the theme and aren’t doing Doubt. Were the rights tied up because of the movie? Not my business I guess, but I’d love to see Chicago actors take that piece on.
February 18th, 2009 at 10:29 am
Ed, thanks for your comment.
The national tour of DOUBT, with former Chicagoan Cherry Jones continuing in the role she originated on Broadway, played Chicago just two years ago. We decided that was sufficiently recent to suggest we give greater consideration to other plays. Also, as you may know, we program plays for our subscription season based in large part on the participation of our ensemble members. The projects in our announced season are those about which a number of members of the ensemble showed greatest enthusiasm.