Gena witnesses a not-so age old religious dispute. By Gena Oppenheim (Writer)
This weekend, in a Times Square rehearsal space, I witnessed a pretty unusual squabble about religion. It all began when eight-year old "Sarah" came to me in tears while the other kids were practicing their best Broadway Baby interpretations. Sarah reported that "Seth" had told her:
"Christians aren't special."
After I confirmed what she said, I ran in and got the little boy in question. When Seth came out into the hall, his version of events were entirely different. He said he was doodling a Star of David on a piece of sheet music when Sarah asked him what it was, to which he replied:
"A Jewish Star."
Sarah then asked him if there were Christian stars, and he said:
"No."
As he retold the chain of events, Sarah again started to cry and whimpered:
"See he says they're no Christian Stars....but what about Jesus?! He was a star! And Mary...she was totally a star!"
After taking a few minutes to untangle this misunderstanding that perhaps has maligned other interfaith friendships, I gently pointed out to Sarah that Seth was drawing a symbol not a star like.... (the first name that popped into my head) Beyonce. Sarah then, understandingly, asked if that was the case,
"What's a Christian symbol?"
My mind went blank, until someone´s little sibling loudly piped up, "Duh...a cross!"
GENA OPPENHEIM Gena is a fourth generation New Yorker who teaches second-grade. She is a graduate of Barnard College and received her MFA from NYU Tisch's Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program. http://twitter.com/#!/genabeans
Funny, I was trying to think of more obscure Christian symbols. The fish/ichthyus was the only one that came to mind...until BAM! -- "Duh...a cross!"
Oh, wait, there is a Christian star: it's the Nativity star that the three kings followed to find the baby Jesus.
More to the kids' point, recent Christian stars might be Jimmy Carter or Johnny Cash.
Posted by: Loren A. Roberts (guru of multi-hyphenate media) | Monday, May 21, 2012 at 05:43 PM