Encountering God Through Stories

“I first learned the Word of God when the Great Rabbi held me silently against his heart.”

9th Hour has a committed tradition and artistic mandate of telling stories that explore, examine, and express questions and ideas relating to faith, spirituality, and the human experience. We do this through the collaborative and multi-disciplinary art form of theatre. We provide opportunity for artists and audiences to engage with faith and think about God and the Sacred through the beauty and power of story telling. More about 9th Hour

“The 9th Hour gang specialize in shows with a religion or faith-based theme, which I freely admit sometimes gives my dully agnostic brain some aches and pains, but usually in a good way." The Visitorium (2012, Agnes of God)

9th Hour's "Agnes of God" (2012)

Engaging with faith, let alone embracing it, can be challenging for many; for reasons of logic, reasons of pain, reasons of upbringing and family dynamics, reasons of rejection and belonging, reasons of religious abuse, warped theology, or misguided morality. The institutions that have long upheld and promoted faith have not always done so well, and in some cases, done so harmfully.

Despite this, the great mystery of faith remains appealing for many, in the questions asked, in the curiosity and wonder, in the Goodness, Beauty, and Truth that encircles it. For many, what or who they have faith in can sometimes be more real than what is material and more observable than what is seen. For many, it's an inexhaustible source of meaning in their lives. For many others, faith and encountering God, can be a stumbling block.

“I’ve never seen this done successfully on stage… it does make you think, no matter where you stand on theology. And my atheist husband enjoys their plays as much as I, a Catholic, do." Apartment 613 (2017, Prodigal Son)

9th Hour's "Prodigal Son" (2017)

Stories, although fictional, can often help to convey deep truth about what is Divine or Real or Sacred. Stories can move us into contemplating or experiencing the Kabod YHWH (the weighty-ness or glory of God). The pursuit of faith and encountering the Divine, for many, can feel like a foolish goal or unattainable outcome. Encountering God can be surprising or look very different for many, as is the case for young Mordecai in the following story, courtesy of Reuben Gold and the Hasidic tradition. The story was reworked by John Shea and retold in Abba’s Child by Brennan Manning. In 2015, 9th Hour actually workshopped this story into a short piece of theatre.

The story is told of a very pious Jewish couple. They had married with great love, and the love never died. Their greatest hope was to have a child so their love could walk the earth with joy.

Yet there were difficulties. And since they were very pious, they prayed and prayed and prayed. Along with considerable other efforts, lo and behold, the wife conceived. When she conceived, she laughed louder than Sarah laughed when she conceived Isaac. And the child leapt in her womb more joyously than John leapt in the womb of Elizabeth when Mary visited her. And nine months later a delightful little boy came rumbling into the world.

They named him Mordecai. He was rambunctious, zestful, gulping down the days and dreaming through the nights. The sun and the moon were his toys. He grew in age and wisdom and grace, until it was time to go to the synagogue and learn the Word of God.

The night before his studies were to begin, his parents sat Mordecai down and told him how important the Word of God was. They stressed that without the Word of God Mordecai would be an autumn leaf in the winter’s wind. He listened wide-eyed.

Yet the next day he never arrived at the synagogue. Instead he found himself in the woods, swimming in the lake and climbing the trees.

When he came home that night, the news had spread throughout the small village. Everyone knew of his shame. His parents were beside themselves. They did not know what to do.

So they called in the behaviour modificationists to modify Mordecai’s behaviour, until there was no behaviour of Mordecai that was not modified. Nevertheless, the next day he found himself in the woods, swimming in the lake and climbing the trees.

So they called in the psychoanalysts, who unblocked Mordecai’s blockages, so there were no more blocks for Mordecai to be blocked by. Nevertheless, he found himself the next day, swimming in the lake and the climbing the trees.

His parents grieved for their beloved son. There seemed to be no hope.

At this same time the Great Rabbi visited the village. And the parents said, “Ah! Perhaps the Rabbi.” So they took Mordecai to the Rabbi and told him their tale of woe. The Rabbi bellowed, “Leave the boy with me, and I will have a talking with him.”

It was bad enough that Mordecai would not go to the synagogue. But to leave their beloved son alone with this lion of a man was terrifying. However, they had come this far and so they left him.

Now Mordecai stood in the hallway, and the Great Rabbi stood in his parlour. He beckoned, “Boy, come here.” Trembling, Mordecai came forward.

And then the Great Rabbi picked him up and held him silently against his heart.

His parents came to get Mordecai, and they took him home. The next day he went to the synagogue to learn the Word of God. And when he was done, he went to the woods. And the Word of God became one with the words of the woods, which became one with the words of Mordecai. And he swam in the lake. And the Word of God became one with the words of the lake, which became one with the words of Mordecai. And he climbed the trees. And the Word of God became one with the words of the trees, which became one with the words of Mordecai.

And Mordecai himself grew up to become a great man. People who were seized with panic came to him and found peace. People who were without anybody came to him and found communion. People with no exits came to him and found a way out. And when they came to him he said, “I first learned the Word of God when the Great Rabbi held me silently against his heart.”