Last Saturday was Mer’s day to be in charge, but she let me go running in the morning. I ran sixteen miles, about eleven of which were with my running partner Jim. So I had quite an appetite when I got home, which was good, because Mer was taking me out to lunch.
We went to the Hartville Kitchen, where we met up with Aunt Mary. Aunt Mary had just gotten back from a trip to Florida to see Mer’s parents, so we had a good amount to catch up on. The food at the Kitchen is always excellent, and they have wonderful chili that I had missed badly. In a rare moment of restraint, I skipped dessert after Mer told me we were going out later as well.
After lunch, we headed back to Aunt Mary’s place, and we all talked while I configured her new laptop. I like being able to visit while doing something useful. We left at about 4:00 and headed back home briefly.
Mer informed me that her dinner plans with someone had fallen through, so we could go anywhere I wanted to go. I had not been to the Old Whedon Grill (in Hudson) for awhile, so we went there, where we had the rather wonderful time of eating on the patio on a warm St. Patrick’s Day. That was pretty great. After supper, we walked over to Cold Stone Creamery to get some ice cream (for the second night in a row).
Mer then took me into Cuyahoga Falls, to a church, where we met up with Dubbs. We were there to see a musical called Tetelestai. Tetelestai is a Greek term that is translated “It is finished,” which is one of the last things that Jesus says on the cross before he dies. The musical was a Passion play, covering the end of Jesus’ life and his resurrection. One of our students had a small role in the play, which is how we knew about it, and I was excited that Mer had remembered to see it.
The play was quite good. The huge (seventy-plus) cast of people were all volunteers. The actors playing Jesus and Caiaphas (the High Priest of the temple) and Judas were all excellent. The play covered all the major events that happened to Jesus while he was in Jerusalem, and did a good job of interpreting the text.
The music was piped in, probably from a computer. It was well done, if a little dated-sounding at times. Tetelestai was written in the 70s, so a few songs sounded very 70s-ish, with prominent bass guitar riffs. While not bad at all, it could be a bit distracting at times, such as when Jesus was on the cross, and the music was causing the teens in front of me to dance in their seats and laugh. I don’t think that was the effect the producers were going for.
Speaking of the crucifixion, the play did a very realistic and gory portrayal of the act. Even in a play, the act of crucifixion was brutal, and really drove home the reality of how much Jesus suffered while he was dying. Happily, Tetelestai carried on through the resurrection, which shows like Godspell and Jesus Christ, Superstar gloss over or ignore.
There was a social time after the play. Dubbs had to leave, but Mer and I got to visit with a couple of students and their parents, and there were cookies. Mer had planned a food-filled day, but there was nothing wrong with that!