Reverend Marci Scott-Weis, MDIV

My dear friend Rev. Carson Hawk frequently reminded me that God is everywhere in life, in the color purple of a field of flowers, in movies, in laughter, in sorrow, in good times, in bad times, and everywhere in between – in the unconditional love of dogs and in all living things, in other people, and inside ourselves. And perhaps especially in the Broadway musical!

Now I love me some Broadway musicals and there is perhaps no Broadway musical that I love more than Wicked. I think I’ve seen it about eight times, and I cry like a baby each time I see it because I find such deep meaning in both the story and the music. So, if you are not familiar with the story, it is basically a story of two women who come from very different walks of life and who have nothing in common. Well over the years, these two women become the very best of friends. But life tests them each individually and life tests their friendship. And through the journey of their friendship, we the audience learn some really important lessons about life and about God.

One of the women, based on her appearance, is an outsider. She is different and because of those differences and because of her unwillingness to conform and sacrifice her principles, she is branded as wicked and cast out. And as the story evolves, we find out how the narrative can be twisted to favor those in power, challenging us the audience to look for the nuance and the truth behind the surface level appearances or what we may be being told by the powers that be.

And even though she is cast out, this vilified outsider choses to live according to her principles. She leans into her uniqueness, even when she was misunderstood and ostracized. She shows us that authenticity is where true strength and beauty lie. She ultimately courageously stand up for what is right, even when it means facing opposition and going against the powers that be. She ultimately chooses to defy gravity and fly. She sings;

Something has changed within me;
Something is not the same
I’m through with playing by
The rules of someone else’s game
Too late for second-guessing
Too late to go back to sleep
It’s time to trust my instincts
Close my eyes and leap
It’s time to try defying gravity

Now, the other woman goes down a different path. She chooses approval over authenticity and ends up sacrificing her principles for popularity and power. These decisions raise the question of whether or not at the end of the day, personal gain is worth the cost of one’s integrity and one’s deepest relationships. Ultimately, she will have to choose between popularity and power and taking a stand against the corruption and injustice that she once ignored and enabled. But in true Broadway fashion, it is the love of and for her friend that calls her back to herself, leading her to ultimately actively oppose injustice and choose true goodness.

So where is God in this story and how can we find meaning here?  The overarching call of Wicked is to seek truth, to love others and to embrace individuality and it reminds us to judge mercifully and to live courageously even when life feels unjust or challenging.

Despite their differences and misunderstandings, these two women ultimately respect and learn from one another.  And the friendship between them shows us that despite how we differ, we can be changed by the other, through love and forgiveness, for good.

And for me, that is where God dances in this story, the ability of our relationships in life to change us for good. The ability of the relationships in our lives to impact us so deeply that we continue to feel those relationships like handprints on our hearts, even when they are no longer in our lives. The ability of our relationships to influence us so deeply that they actually rewrite our stories. That is where God dances for me here.

The final duet of the musical is called ‘For Good’ and there are some powerful words in this song. This simple song asks us where we have each come from, how we got here and what and who shaped us along the way. This song asks us who or what has left a handprint on our heart and who has rewritten our stories. I imagine that each of us has at least one person who has come into our lives and brought something that we needed to learn and helped us to grow. Each of us has someone who has fundamentally changed us for the better.

Wicked’s final song celebrates friendship and love. It celebrates the act of supporting the other regardless of how we might differ, recognizing what we each bring to the other and what we can learn from each other. And the song celebrates that the people we get to love and be loved by in our lives leave their handprints on our hearts, that they change us for good.

People come into our lives for a reason, and we are so very often better for it.

Thanks be to God for their presence and their handprints on our hearts, rewriting our stories and changing us for good.

Amen