Circle

      Before each performance at the local community theater, the cast and crew hold "circle." They hold hands, and the director and/or the cast speak briefly and then pray for a good performance.
      For Sunday's circle, I wrote the following and thought I'd post it here so that I'd have it.

      This is the last performance of Murder at the Witch's Cottage at the Norris Center. All our hard work ends with one more walk on the stage. Theater is like that: fleeting and precious. Nothing survives afterward except memories. A play -- and our lives -- are composed of brief moments in time.
      The play ends today. Tomorrow it's likely we won't see each other. We won't talk to each other daily. We won't share our lives daily. I would like to think that the bonds we've forged will continue, but I've been in too many plays, watched too many casts wander off. I know we will remain friends, but this particular closeness will probably end. Things will be different.
      Time is the only thing we own on this earth. And how we spend it is how our lives will be measured. Before this is over, I want to tell each of you how much I appreciate you spending your time with my words.
      Thank you, Kyra. Your support and general good humor are an undisguised blessing to me.
      Thank you, Nancy C. You're a hot, talented redhead who will always have at least one admirer from afar.
      Thank you, Chuck. I knew I was going to enjoy working with you and I was right. Your commitment and hard work have helped make this play possible.
      Thank you, Brittany. I hope that your amazing talent will find a way to reach a lot of people and give you the success you deserve.
      Thank you, Joan. It's always an honor to watch a new talent find her feet and take her first steps on the boardwalk. I hope you take many journeys on it.
      Thank you, Nancy P. First for letting us know how sexy Methodist women can be and for sharing your talent and smile with all of us.
      Thank you, Joy. You've certainly lived up to your name. Backstage people never get the recognition they deserve. Let this count as regress for some of that slight.
      Thank you, Marsha. It's good to know my future companion in the nursing home is still as sharp, funny and hard-working as ever.
      And finally, thank you, Eric. Any success that I can ever claim is due to the unexpected and undeserved blessing of having you as my best friend who supports me in all my lunacies.
      The prayer I'm going to share with you is one from a book of poetry I've been working on. The book is called Broken Angels Still Sing and the poem is entitled "Quicksilver."

Quicksilver

Let us pray.

Power Who moves the universe
Who makes the mountains speak
and the skies sing
and the waves give praise

To Thee we offer thanks
for these quicksilver moments
brief and precious
that compose our lives.

We sparkle but briefly
against the bounded night
motes of lights bright
before we fade into shadow

But in these fleeting moments,
we live and die
weep and laugh
and gloriously love

So we give thanks to Thee
and ask upon us
Thy endless blessings
and unbounded mercy.

We ask this in Thy Myriad Name
remembering always
to give unto You
all the praise

Amen.

      And that was the last circle for Murder at the Witch's Cottage.