Are you in the right story?

Are you in the right story? This is a key question for life...

Dear Friend of PACA, Are you in the right story?  This is a key question for life. A question we present to our community here at Pan American Christian Academy. One of several complex questions that the 25 students from drama class wrestled with as they prepared and performed the challenging musical play “Into the Woods” before 200 plus attendees. “Do you know what you wish? Are you certain what you wish is what you want?” sings Cinderella’s mother in the play. Cinderella’s mother asks this question as it applies to each of the characters in the play, and these questions ring true to the audience.  What do we most wish for in life?  Is what we wish actually what we most need? And the recurring question that comes with these two is: what choices should we make to pursue our wishes? In the world we live in, we face answers to these questions that while well-intentioned leave us a little dissatisfied.  Do what makes you happy. You choose your truth. You decide what’s good for you. At the darkest moment of the play, the central characters comfort each other with some of these very same words and claim that you are not alone in the confusing journey of deciding the right path.  These answers feel dissatisfying because we know ourselves too well--the characters even recognize this-- we make many mistakes in pursuing what we think we want. Often, we fail at fulfilling our desires, and when we achieve what we want we risk a different kind of failure: finding that what we’ve gained isn’t satisfying enough. One assumption behind the question of what to pursue is that we write our own story and control our destiny, but the Christian narrative offers us a wholly different perspective.  The Bible says that God has been writing his great work since the beginning, and while He made us to reflect Him in creative activity, we reject Him and His story in pursuit of our own. As the prophet Isaiah puts it:  “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.”   At the center of the Christian narrative God enters his own story to free us from the darkness we find ourselves in. He draws us into His story instead, where we find that our choices and our pursuits aren’t what define us, but rather our acknowledgment that He is the one and only perfect story-teller. By God’s grace and through confidence in His power, we are free to fail and succeed, to face great disappointments and even tragedy without fear that our story is “ruined” or “not enough.”   As one character considers her circumstances, she says “I’m in the wrong story.” Is it a story that places you at the center of wish-fulfilment?  Or is it a story that frees you from a fear of failure because it’s center is God’s grace? Are you in the right story?     We thank you being a part of our PACA family. We ask that you keep praying over the school as we nurture hearts, develop minds and educate for eternity. Sincerely, ‌ Jeremy Davis Alumnus – Class of 2008 Play Director / English Teacher Pan American Christian Academy www.paca.com.br P.S. As we approach the Christmas season, pray for our PACA community to have grace and love as we engage in conversations about the God’s greatest gift to humanity: His Son, Jesus Christ. Here is a link to the 1991 Broadway Musical of INTO THE WOODS. Suggested age 11+ due to deep and complex themes. Pan American Christian Academy Rua Cassio de Campos Nogueira, 393 São Paulo, Brazil 04920-310 See what's happening on our social sites