The book of Isaiah presses into the theme of resilience. “But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” – Isaiah 40:31
This leads me to one of my favorite musicals of all time that shares similar themes, and even shares the imagery of this verse in the form of walking and not growing faint. That musical is Hadestown. I fell in love with this musical when I had the chance to see the original Broadway cast in New York City in March of 2022. When I say my world was flipped upside down after seeing the show, I wish I was exaggerating, alas I am not. I did not know much about the story other than it centered around Orpheus and Eurydice as well as Hades and Persephone, known from their famous Greek tales, with themes of love, loss, sacrifice and perseverance in the face of hopelessness.
I hate to the spoil the ending, but unfortunately the story is a tragedy. A Greek tragedy. It is heart breaking, and will leave you with many questions, but above all I left the theatre with 3 thoughts:
1. The love of God is enough to sustain us. As a romantic, of course I wish for the star-crossed lovers to make it through Hell and back and to come out the other side bound together for all eternity. The truth is, Gods love more inspiring that all of it because His love is holy, without fault, without flaw. It is a pure love that we can always trust. It is a love that will continue to keep hope alive because it never fails.
2. An unchecked ego can cloud the heart. In Hadestown, Hades longs for control- not only over his realm, but his relationship as well. He clings to pride and authority, yet his most human moments appear when love begins to reach him. We see his icy heart thaw, allowing him to take another chance on love. This glimmer of hope feels believable and moving, showing that even the most guarded hearts can change.
3. Trust in God leads to freedom. It is normal to have doubts in our faith and to have questions for God- He can handle all of our humanity. But when we give our total trust to God and surrender to His will, there is freedom in that act more than we could ever guess or request in our wildest dreams. Trusting God to lead us out of the valley of the shadow of death is what leads us to spiritual freedom.
Hadestown seems like a strange place to find God, but in this story, I found God in a million different ways, and above all, the scripture of Isaiah rings true that through God we will walk and not be faint.
Kelsey Paul, LifeLight Worship Leader
