Godspell is a tricky one! I remember it well from the 70s. It is very preachy. A lot of Christians don’t like it either as it’s a bit happy-clappy. Jesus Christ Superstar makes for an interesting comparison as it looks at the bible stories more critically (Tim Rice was an atheist). It’s also one of my favourite plays so I would have no qualms about performing that.

I find it interesting to compare English attitudes to religion with American attitudes. I doubt that Godspell could even be performed in an American public school, even though Americans are much more religious. English kids have a way of fudging the difference between religious and not religious where Americans are more likely to be all or nothing one way or the other. I’m still bummed that my kids never sang Little Donkey at Christmas or got to dress as a shepherd at the manger as I did in primary school.

Brava to Camilla for making a difficult choice.

It was the first day of Junior school and they changed the position of our hands when we said the Lord’s Prayer. Infants say it with their palms together and fingers straight. Juniors have to intertwine their fingers. That was the point where I realised they were just making it all up.

Thank you, Johnboy.

Anyway, my friend your writing is a pleasure and for your commitment to smartpatients I thank you, it’s important to a lot of people.

Bonne courage
Johnboy France

SHORT VERSION: If you wanted to comment on the last few posts but couldn’t, now you can.

That’s interesting, Sleuth.

‘Spiritual’ is one of those tricky words that means different things to different people. A lot of atheists won’t use it to describe themselves because they take it to mean ‘belief in spirits’. I don’t agree with that definition.

I’m fine using ‘spiritual’ to mean Mother Nature or Serendipity or, my favourite, The Call of the Wild. I definitely hear that call about now. I’m spiritual.

That’s brilliant, Chris! Almost as good as the Sea Cadets deciding that ‘God’ means the same as ‘God or no god’.

That works for me if that works for them. Whether one believes in an old man with a long grey beard and wild hair, thunderbolts in one hand, sheaves of wheat in the other, clouds emanating from his presence, many find their compass and their guide in the same general way.