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SHELTERED BY LOVE

MAIN POINT
This is a richly textured slice of life with an unexpected twist. We start with two women, sitting on a porch, talking about death. The audience will probably think the brevity of life is the main point. But all of a sudden they realize it's not as much about death as it is life. In fact, Helen accepts death with such a matter-of-fact coolness that we wonder if she has an emotion left in her. Then we get the picture of a mother's love - both in Helen's story and in the underlying picture of the tree. In both cases, the elder lives to protect the younger and weaker. Helen's commitment to the welfare of her beloved daughter causes her to despise the ordinary and more basic instinct of self-preservation. The picture here is love, deep, unconditional and sacrificial love. It's moving to anyone who has ever offered or received that kind of love, and illustrates God's love-at-any-cost determination to save us.

CHARACTERIZATION
Helen: Helen's an unsophisticated but not unintelligent woman with a lot of fortitude. She's lived long and experienced a lot of pain - the deaths of her daughter and husband. She's responded to tragedy with a little bit of exterior hardness. But right under the surface is a grandma ready to weep. And through the darkness, she's managed to salvage a little hope with the realization that her life has meaning in the shelter of others. Even her school crossing-guard employment fits this purpose. She's opinionated, but not harsh.

Nurse: The nurse must be the paragon of gentleness. She really plays the part of the audience, asking all the questions the audience wants to know. Since it's their first meeting, she believes Helen may not be quite "all there." So at times she tries to draw her out to understand her better. Of course, she gradually finds out there's nothing wrong with Helen's mind - or her heart. The nurse is warm and compassionate.

DIRECTOR'S NOTES
1) As you develop Helen's character, be careful not to emphasize the crotchety-old-woman to the point of comedy. This is not a funny sketch. It would be best to recruit an elderly woman in your church with some spunk to try it. Think carefully, though, because a lot of senior citizens can't picture themselves on the stage. Look for somebody who has gumption in real life, and she'll exhibit that on stage as well. The part could also be played by someone younger with a wig and some make-up, but don't overdo it; Helen is not a comic character in any sense.

2) If possible, find a way to open the scene with the characters already in place. That way, Helen, whether young or old, won't have to get into place while in character.

3) Make sure the two of them refer to the same spot when they gesture or look toward the tree. It's annoying if the audience feels they're looking in two different places.

4) You can perform this sketch with two chairs - Helen's being a rocker - but a good option is to get an actual porch swing and suspend it from something secure. In fact, with two eye bolts and a solid beam overhead (which most churches have), you could actually hang the swing for a very nice effect.

RELATED SCRIPTURES
Hebrews 12 mentions the kind of love Jesus had in approaching the cross. He "despised the shame." Helen despised the danger of radiation. Maybe an even better kind is the divine love in Philippians 2:3-8 where Jesus humbles himself even to the point of death. The application to us is in verses 3-4. There's no shortage of passages on God's love, any of which would work. If you want to go with the angle of a mother's love, look at Moses' mother in Exodus 2, Hannah in 1 Samuel 1 or the unnamed mother of the living child in 1 Kings 3:16-26.

RELATED THEMES
Besides divine love, this sketch would fit with themes of sacrifice, motherhood, selfishness, aging, death, tragedy, compassion or even cancer itself. (Good sketches tend to be widely applicable - they can embrace themes because of their authentic approach to a problem. Life is not lived subject by subject, but in a tapestry of themes.) You could also use this script to discuss the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.