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| Palm Sunday |
Today is Palm Sunday. This is the first Palm Sunday in my memory where nothing in my life signifies the day, no visual imagery, waving of palms, etc. Except maybe….on my way to the deli to pick up a Sunday Times, I pass by First Corinthian Baptist. I hear from inside the locked doors the powerful voices of their choir, filming for their 10:45 streamed service. I wonder how many are inside. How far apart they are. What the scene is like. I hear the voices rose and fall….What does the triumphant entry of Jesus mean in coronavirustime?
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The corner produce vendors, gone. Green markets, farmers' markets, gone. Hot dog vendors, gone. The Halal stand guys, gone.
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Turns out the tents in Central Park are donated by Franklin Graham’s Samaritan Purse organization. Franklin, the son of Billy Graham, is an Islamophobe and homophobe who makes his father look like a Unitarian by comparison. Turns out you have to sign a “faith statement” to be accepted as a volunteer. The blessed Rev. Billy of the Church of Stop Shopping Now was arrested by attempting to plant a rainbow flag at the site. I wonder if the tents accept lgbtq patients? (https://gothamist.com/news/rev-billy-arrested-planting-rainbow-flag-central-park-tent-hospital)
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My friend Kosi (http://www.kosi-sings.com/) does a live concert from Baltimore along with her friend Ross Martin. Kosi was a regular at the West Park Open Mic and lead vocalist for the alt pop group Goddess Lakshmi.(https://thegoddesslakshmi.org/) Even did a theater turn in Joyce Miller’s evolving Handmaid’s Dianetics at Dixon Place (http://dixonplace.org/performances/the-handmaids-dianetics-episode-4-the-science-of-survival-08-19-2019/). Ross, a doctor turned singer-songwriter. (https://www.missrainsong.com/ross-martin) It’s an intimate concert experience.
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Another friend has invited me to a virtual theatre festival organized by the No Pants Theatre Company.(https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10158447466719187&set=a.10151127892799187&type=3&theater) A whole day of new plays, 10-15 minutes long apiece, three actors on ZOOM, all reflections on the virus. My friend’s piece, State Mandated Therapy Session #8, posits a day where the virus and quarantine have just continued and now in addition to isolation, the government is requiring therapy sessions for everyone. The play is a clever, and chilling, projection of a not unimaginable dystopian future. All the plays I see in the hour make good use of the ZOOM platform and its markers, including the symbol we see from people who cannot get their cameras to work and the other quirks becoming part of our shared cultural experience. The virus continues to inspire creativity in the arts community as we all seek to do our part to keep each other going…
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Palm Sunday. The door is opened to a Holy Week like no other….
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