“Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio? A nation turns its lonely eyes to you…”
—“Mrs. Robinson,” Simon and Garfunkel
When the Munchkins danced into the bright stage lights, dozens of little people swarmed about in a riot of fruit-bowl colors, in a tropical array of textures and talent, in their puffs and plumes and pinks and greens and yellows. The audience gasped before laughing at the way the formerly dark stage had been transformed by little Munchkins who were literally “breathtaking.”
The wonder of it was that there were so many young people trying out for a four-day run of the Wizard of Oz that the powers-that-be decided to cast the leads and the ensembles into two groups (a yellow brick road cast and a ruby slippers cast) so that all the enthusiasm in our one little town could be showcased and encouraged.
Double the work? Yes. But the powers-that-be had been a part of the summer musical so long that I call them the heroes-that-be because they do what they do year after year from a purity of heart and a love of their calling (theatre), and not for power at all. A person only had to read the program to see what was up…new names and old making magic come alive on a local stage.
I have been thinking for months about power and purity of heart vs. darkness of motive. The result has been an acute sensitivity to heroes who pop up everywhere, despite the surrounding hate and/or misuse of power.
"Where have you gone Joe DiMaggio?" ("Mrs. Robinson") expresses a longing for heroes, for grace, dignity, and a sense of a moral compass. The song bemoans a shift of cultural values during a time when Americans were floundering and searching for leadership and stability. Even in 1968, when the song was released, when leaders were assassinated, war raged, and daily protests demanded an end to injustice, even then we didn’t have Alligator Alcatraz and masked men whisking people off the streets into vans, so finally, I concede that today is darker than then.
We still search for heroes—even when we give up on systems that have promised to deliver them. We look for sports figures we can admire both on and off the court or the field, musicians who are not bloated with their own excesses, people in our communities quietly doing good things because they want to, not necessarily from a sense of duty.
Truly, if we’re tuned in, we don’t have to look far. We notice people directing local theatre because of their love for local people and their stories, asking little in return except authentic experience and connection. We see the retirees who still act as mentors and advisers, volunteers in places of tragedy, comforters who bring gifts of food, listening, and understanding when the unthinkable happens.
None of us has to wait for a record company or Broadway producer or publishing house or superintendent or government to give us permission to share the gifts we have to share. When heroes are in short supply and we can’t seem to make a dent in the armor of the rich and powerful, we have our home turf, our own chance to be humble and giving and alive with peacemaking and a basic purity of heart.
We have our own chances to create a riot of color and plumes to brighten dark places. If and when heroes finally emerge in places they’re expected to be, they can join us in the business of making things bright…and Right…and bearable and breathtaking.
Truly, if we’re tuned in…we find “power and purity of heart… grace and dignity.” We find heroes who make magic come alive.
My deepest desire of my own self, what I strive for every day, is “to be humble and giving and alive with peacemaking and a basic purity of heart.”
Such a profound message … such beautiful words. Thank you, Julia ❤️