Skip to main content

Witch Hunts

Wilbert's birthday is coming up next week, so I planned a special night out for him. We had a half day of school on Friday, which made it the perfect day for us to go out. I didn't tell Wilbert what we were doing until we were ready to get in the car. The plans included dinner at a nice Italian restaurant and then we went to see the opening night of the play "The Crucible" at the Orpheum Theater. It was so nice to see a play that we had nothing do with. We were able to just enjoy it and get some ideas for things to do in school's future productions. The theater is so old and cool looking and we had excellent seats.

If you are not familiar with the play "The Crucible," it is set in the late 1600's in Salem, Massachusetts when it was a Puritan colony. The whole base for the play is the witch hunts that took place in American History. On the way home, we talked about this play was a clear example of escalation. The Puritans allowed their fears to escalate and turn into something that those of us 300 years later find difficult to understand. We also talk about how this concept is one that can be applied to Arthur Miller, the author, and the times he was living in during the 1950's and 1960's with the Communist hunts of that time.

We also talk about how it can also be applied today. People may not be looking for witches now, but many people let their imaginations, their fears, their worries escalate and turn into something that those on the outside find completely illogical and ridiculous. They predict the apocalypse with the new President. They won't associate or even look at anyone of Middle East descent. They won't give to the building fund of the school because a student said "doggone" in the spring play.

In the end, there are much bigger battles that must be fought.

Comments

Pastor Kuyp said…
Yeah, you really have to watch your language in school plays, I mean come on, what is this world coming too??? It looks like to me, it is the same in Christian schools as it is in the Church...

Popular posts from this blog

This Is Where It Ends by Cindy K. Sproles

When Minerva Jane Jenkins was just fourteen years old, she married a man who moved her to the mountains. He carried with him a small box, which he told her held gold. And when he died fifty years later, he made her promise to tell no one about the box or the treasure it contained. Now at ninety-four, Minerva is nearing the end of what has sometimes been a lonely life. But she's kept her promise. Even so, rumors of hidden gold have a way of spreading, and Minerva is visited by a reporter, Del Rankin, who wants to know more of her story. As an unlikely friendship develops, Minerva is tempted to reveal her secret to Del. But the truth of what's really buried in the box may be hidden even from her. I really enjoyed this book. It is quality historical fiction with a strong narrative voice. I really liked the characters and it was interesting to see how all of the secrets they carried with them affected them. I enjoyed the relationships between the characters and how the setting was

The Wind Blows in Sleeping Grass by Katie Powner

A fter years of drifting, fifty-year-old Pete Ryman has settled down with his potbellied pig, Pearl, in the small Montana town of Sleeping Grass--a place he never expected to see again. It's not the life he dreamed of, but there aren't many prospects for a high-school dropout like him. Elderly widow Wilma Jacobsen carries a burden of guilt over her part in events that led to Pete leaving Sleeping Grass decades ago. Now that he's back, she's been praying for the chance to make things right, but she never expected God's answer to leave her flat on her face--literally--and up to her ears in meddling. When the younger sister Pete was separated from as a child shows up in Sleeping Grass with her eleven-year-old son, Pete is forced to face a past he buried long ago, and Wilma discovers her long-awaited chance at redemption may come at a higher cost than she's willing to pay. I really enjoyed this book. The characters in it were interesting and unique. While some thing

The Best Summer of Our Lives by Rachel Hauck

  Twenty years ago, the summer of '77 was supposed to be the best summer of Summer Wilde's life. She and her best friends, Spring, Autumn, and Snow--the Four Seasons--had big plans. But those plans never had a chance. After a teenage prank gone awry, the Seasons found themselves on a bus to Tumbleweed, "Nowhere," Oklahoma, to spend eight weeks as camp counselors. All four of them arrived with hidden secrets and buried fears, and the events that unfolded in those two months forever altered their friendships, their lives, and their futures. Now, thirtysomething, Summer is at a crossroads. When her latest girl band leaves her in a motel outside Tulsa, she is forced to face the shadows of her past. Returning to the place where everything changed, she soon learns Tumbleweed is more than a town she never wanted to see again. It's a place for healing, for reconciling the past with the present, and for finally listening to love's voice. This was an enjoyable book to r