Nutcracker Theology

Yesterday, my family enjoyed attending a performance of Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker at Butler University.  This is the fifth year in a row all of us have gone and it has become one of the "kick off" events for us when it comes to getting ready to celebrate Christmas.  It is always a fun time, made even more special for me because I get to see several of my students each year take part in the performance (including this year, the Mouse Queen herself!) and as part of the orchestra.

But the performance we watched on got me thinking a bit about the theological implications of the ballet.  Now, I'm not going to assert that Tchaikovsky was a "secret theologian," nor that there is a whole bunch of hidden, symbolic meaning (implied or even unconsciously presented because of cultural norms) akin to what some literary and film critics do.  Rather, it simply struck me while watching the performance this is a story set at Christmas whose story in many ways is a tale of good triumphing over evil, and the celebration of beauty that comes about because of that victory.  That may or may not seem very much like the Christmas sermons some of you heard today on this second Sunday of Advent (though if you want to read a really good one, might I suggest this message by the Rev. William Willimon), but to me it gets in a very artistic way shall we say, at the heart of the Christian message, the Gospel's Good News, which the Church proclaims this time of year.

Of course part of my epiphany may have been because of this article, which details recent comments by Bill Gates on charitable giving.  As the author (Terry Teachout) of that post notes, Gates criticized some of his wealthy peers for giving money to art museums and the like, when that money could be donated to medical research or foundations (like Gates's own) that fund such research and programs that combat diseases and ailments.  While there, much to ponder in what Gates said and implied (and what has been implied with his comments), I thought that Teachout struck exactly the right chord by noting in the last line of his post that "Of course it's admirable to help prevent blindness—but it's also admirable to help ensure that we have beautiful things to see."

Yesterday, in Butler's production of The Nutcracker I got to sit alongside my children and see a beautiful performance.  And in light of what Teachout had to say, let me add that the baby of Bethlehem (the one right now depicted all over the world in a manger) grew up, the Bible says, to both heal the sick he encountered and save us all from our sins (Matthew 1:21).  One action need not be divorced from the other, and both in their own way can be good things to be cherished.