Along those lines, I found myself thinking about one of my favorite shows this past week. I suspect most people don't know that I am a fan of the opera, with my favorite opera being George Bizet's "Carmen." I was introduced to opera while I was a sophomore at BYU. I had just returned home from my mission and I was taking a Humanities course which required us to attend several different kinds of social events. That semester, BYU was performing a rendition of Carmen and the professor strongly encouraged us to attend it as one of our social events. I'll be honest, I was doubtful. I am a devoted football and basketball fan with no background in music and, to be honest, no real cultural refinement. More than once my Mom was heard to plead over the dinner table with my brother and I using the phrase, "Can't we just have one dinner without...?" So I was not expecting to become a fan. Still, out of obligation to my grades, I went to the production and fell in love with it. I fell in love with the music. I fell in love with the costuming. I even fell in love with the opera singing.
Most of all, however, I fell in love with the story. Essentially, Carmen is the story of a man named Don Jose. At the beginning of the opera, he is a good man who is deeply in love with his virtuous and wonderful fiance. He is an officer in the army and is given an assignment to help out in a small town. In the process of fulfilling his army duties, he meets a beautiful woman named Carmen who treats him as a kind of project or goal because he seems so unattainable. Tragically, Don Jose begins to listen to her seductions and little mistake after little mistake leads to bigger mistakes. He loses his commission in the army, becomes a thief, and as might be expected, Carmen turns her affections toward another man with more to offer her than the broken-down Don Jose. The story ends with Don Jose doing the unthinkable and killing Carmen because she had shunned him.
Obviously this isn't a happy story and there is no happy ending to it. So why do I love it? What I love in this narrative is the lesson. Don Jose had everything in the world in the beginning and he even knew that he had everything. But he allowed temptation to cloud his judgment and ultimately destroy his life as he pursued an illusion. His story could have and should have been so very different.
I'm grateful that when I look around me, I don't see many people like Don Jose. Everywhere I look, I see men and women who stand out as shining examples, men and women who recognized that they had everything in the world in the gospel and in their families and who have paid any price in struggle to maintain those rich blessings. I've seen men and women come to themselves and realize that they had made mistakes and I have seen how they turned their life around through the power of the Atonement and made their way back to the arms of the Savior's perfect love. What a blessing it is to be members of this Church! What a blessing it is to be members of eternal families with opportunities to bless and strengthen one another! What a blessing it is to be able to become more like our Savior through the gospel of Jesus Christ!
Brett
PS, since that sophomore year, I have been able to attend two other productions of Carmen with my sister Stephanie! I've loved them both!
I had the BEST response all typed out and my computer wouldn't post it. :( Sometimes technology and I do not speak the same language.
ReplyDeleteI second your thoughts about Conference. Somehow, it means even more to me now that I'm living outside of Utah. Because I have to make a serious effort to find the sessions and tune in, the time I get to spend listening to/watching the messages of these great women and men is all the more valuable to me. Fortunately, technology and I actually DID speak the same language this past week and I was able to see almost every session. I'm already looking forward to the November "Ensign."
Ever since you introduced me to "Carmen," a few years ago, I've loved the opera. It's always been beautiful music and a tragic story, but now I will also think of the analogy you've drawn between the lives of Bizet's characters and how we sometimes approach the Gospel in our lives. It's easy to become complacent and forget the great knowledge -- and, thus, responsibility -- that the Gospel brings to our lives. Isn't that what happened time and again throughout the Book of Mormon and elsewhere in the scriptures? Righteous living brings blessings which, if we're not careful, can lead to pride and then onto a path away from truth.
As I read through your post, I couldn't help but be reminded of Lehi and Nephi's dreams of the tree of life. There were so many people who started out along the path, holding to the rod and moving forward. Yet, when the inhabitants of the great and spacious building started mocking their faith and progression, some of them let go and were swallowed up in the mists of darkness.
Life is tough. Sometimes, plain and simple, it just isn't fun or fair. We all make mistakes and everyone's faith is tested from time to time -- sometimes more vigorously than we'd care to admit -- yet if we try our best to keep moving forward, holding fast to the iron rod, as the hymn says, "there is [always] hope smiling brightly before us." How grateful I am for this promise and for the role of the Gospel in my life. I'm grateful for the chance to change and become better and for the love of my Savior who is right beside me through it all.
Thanks for these reminders that life is good, even when it seems bad. :)