Ken Young really likes to walk – or rather, sing – in the
footsteps of the characters he writes for us to mimic. It’s probably a sign
that he’s really feeling the part. What would it be like to know someone who
was your healer, teacher, and motivator, and to have that person cruelly
removed from your life? How would you respond if, unexpectedly, that key person
in your life suddenly reappeared alive? Ken must have been wondering too, as he
thought about one of the women (see her picture here – can you guess who it is?)
that the Messiah had befriended. Listen to the song (see the link below to hear
a portion of the song), and see if you can tap into this emotional spectrum
that Ken wrote about in 1992 in “Rabboni”.
Ken
Young tells us something of the background to “Rabboni”, which was a musical
drama in which he and others took part. In his own words: It was written at the same time
"Thomas' Song" (see SongScoop on this at http://songscoops.blogspot.com/search/label/Young ) was written in 1992 for an Easter
Resurrection drama and musical we did at South MacArthur (Church of Christ) in
Irving, TX. The soloist played the part
of Mary Magdalene.
‘Mary’. That’s
all Jesus said to her that Easter morning. It must have been His use of her
name, or perhaps it was the tone of His voice that tipped off Mary that this
was not the gardener, huh? (John 20:15-16) As Ken composed and the director
encouraged the actors in the show that day in Texas in 1992, how did the
actress playing Mary manage to deliver an authentic performance? Having not
seen a risen human, much less a God-man like Jesus, Ken and the actress who
sang Mary’s part could be excused if they were at something of a loss. There
are few details of Mary Magdalene, other than those that tell us she’d been
healed of demon possession (Luke 8:2-3), had seen Him mocked and killed (Matt.
27:55-56; Mark 15:40; Luke 23: 34,49; John 19:25), and then had reported the
stunning resurrection news to others (Luke 24:10; John 20:18).
But,
I could imagine what it would be like to see one of my close friends come back.
Can you? If your imagination permits you the mental imagery to see a risen
friend, you’re probably not too far from Mary. Maybe that’s how Ken and the
musical drama director persuaded the others to think as they debuted “Rabboni” in
1992. Among my circle of anticipated reunions, I’m eager to see three friends
who’ve been gone for a few years now, and wonder if maybe Bill, and Sarah, and
Bob might even be reading this! I know God, the omniscient One, knows what’s in
black and white on this page, and deep within my being too. And, it goes
without saying that seeing Him face-to-face will be the pinnacle of my life’s
reward. And, those feelings now aren’t wasted…it’s awesome to know that they’re
a warm-up for the real thing, isn’t it!
Check out the following link to read about the composer and
Hallal, and to hear a portion of the song:
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