Freedom of...

These are interesting times.

Abraham Lincoln said "'Tis better to be silent and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt".

At the risk of confirming my idiocy, Rather than post on social media, which has been a dumpster fire for quite some time and now has the children circling and squirting lighter fluid on the flames, I determined I would share a thought here, in my yard. I can say it, you can read it or not, and viola, freedom.

Freedom for me to speak my mind. Freedom for you to partake or elect not to. I'll sleep fine either way, and if I may be so bold, I believe you will as well.

My line of work can often put me at odds with what others perceive as my personal beliefs. Having a stage is a forum, and the message that occupies that stage changes from event to event. When I have something more to the "left" (whatever that means), the conservative crowd may reach out with a text or call concerned for my eternal well-being. If I do something more to the right (whatever that means), the more liberal crowd will reach out with a text or call concerned for my well-being.

Aside from the warm feelings I experience with the overwhelming concern for my well-being, it truly does make me evaluate what I am doing, and why. For clarity, mine as much as anyone else's, let me share the inner-workings of an old man.

I have a fiduciary responsibility to my employer. This means I don't program based on personal preferences. If I booked shows based on what I listen to, the theatre would never have made it to 98 years, and I wouldn't still be employed. I listen to LOTS of different things. I listen to classical music, film scores, smooth jazz, southern gospel, 80's christian music, 70's rock, Americana...the list goes on and on. I know every word to the Evening with John Denver album and I can sing every word of Meatloaf's Bat Out of Hell. I can sing along with over a dozen Gaither albums, and I LOVE to turn up Boston when I am getting ready for work in the morning. Confused? Imagine being inside this addled brain.

I believe a stage is sacred ground. It is a place that does not care who you pray to, who you vote for, who you sleep with, how you identify in gender or race. A stage is a place where we can acknowledge the things that make us different AND the reality that we are more alike than anyone cares to admit.

When I book things that don't resonate for me personally, which is more often than you may realize, I look to my role as a steward of that sacred stage, and consider the responsibility I have to create a safe space for both performer and patron to be seen, respected, and even cared for. This is where the staff, led by my favorite human, comes into critical focus. This tribe understands the mission and proactively works to cultivate a space to be safe, to experience kindness, and to inspire hope.

If I book something that holds some personal pleasure, it isn't happening because I want it to happen. It's happening because I am gambling that enough people will share my opinion on the worth of the content that we might see income for this lovely theatre. Sometimes I am right. Sometimes I am incredibly wrong. Either way, the personal pleasure derived from the experience is considered cake. Something I savor and don't get as often as I like.

Sometimes those well-intentioned folks will call and move beyond concern for my well-being to questioning my sanity, or my values. Sometimes they can get ugly. Sometimes they are stupid. Yep, I'm saying it. People can definitely be stupid.

The reality is that the show reflects the values of the performer, not necessarily the patron. There was a time when opinions were based on performance, not the politics or social agenda of the performer. Lots of straight people listened to Liberace, though the entertainer's sexuality differed from the mainstream approved culture of the day. He wasn't judged for who he slept with, but rather his talent.

And how do we reconcile this with personal beliefs? Simple. Don't approve? Don't buy a ticket. You maintain your freedom, as does the performer.

I heard it said as a young man that this country would be very different if the people that went to church on Sunday voted the way they said they believed on Tuesday. Yes, this can be interpreted a few different ways, but in this, as in all things, how you interpret this is between you and God. (If you don't believe in God, don't get mad because I do. This just means it will be easier for you to reconcile your beliefs because you don't have to wrestle with the barometer that I do in Scripture.)

Why talk about this now, Geoff?

Because it feels more and more related to the lack of tolerance displayed on all sides of the culture. Left, right, independent - these titles don't even have the clear definition they once did.

What has become consistent is the intolerance. It isn't enough to disagree, we have to cancel or kill anyone that dares a difference of opinion.

But it bears mentioning that you don't HAVE to watch the video of the individual you disagree with. You don't HAVE to watch a television host you don't agree with. You don't HAVE to buy a ticket for an artist or performance you don't like. YOU have the FREEDOM to choose.

And they have the FREEDOM to share their feelings as well.

If those feelings are in the public spectrum, that's a different thing. If I booked only shows that matched my personal preferences, my employers would have every right to bounce me out the door. I accepted the responsibility that I would have to navigate my personal feelings with my professional responsibilities. And if I am working with a performer that I disagree with COMPLETELY? I am commissioned in my faith to love that person as much as I love my children or anyone else.

Want to see a grown man pitch a fit? You should ride to work with me some mornings. As I listen to the news, which is ALL completely biased, I begin to ask questions to the radio to show a spotlight on the bias. If you don't think Joy Bilyeu-Steele is a saint, you have never considered what she endures to be married to me. She just sits patiently and lets me grow increasingly agitated until I finally slam the dial off and we drive the remainder of the drive in silence, outside my exaggerated sighs of frustration.

The real question I ask myself from time to time is; why did I turn the stupid radio on in the first place? I KNEW it was going to be playing bias, and I KNEW it would not end well for me. But I am bent on the self-mutilation of my peace.

It's worth considering if you aren't in a self-destructive cycle as well.

What would happen if we all stopped being critical, but rather SILENT to the negative and focused solely on sowing seeds of POSITIVE. What would happen if the click counts went down on the "influencers" that sow seeds of anxiety, frustration, intolerance, and hatred? The algorithms would bury them, that's what would happen.

I am renewed in my objective to be kind. I am resolved in my faith that in ALL that I do, I am to do it with excellence, conviction, and acknowledging that my job is to love the person, not the behavior. I'll start worrying about other people's behavior when I have mine worked out, and believe me when I say - you all are safe from judgement from this old man. That isn't a splinter in my eye - it's a telephone pole.

peace

g