Insights Outside The Walls

Last night, on a spur of the moment, I went to see a local production of Andrew Lloyd Weber’s musical “Cats.” It was a great performance. I was amazed at the talent of these young people, most of whom were still in High School and College. It seems that people either love the show or hate it, finding it confusing and boring. I am one who likes it and gets into the layers of symbolism in the show.

The central symbol in the show is Grizabella the glamour cat. She is old, used up and unwanted by the rest of the group. Her days in the spotlight are long over and one suspects that her life and reputation has not been the best since then. She appears at various times throughout the show and is always shunned by the other cats. In the end she sings the central and now famous tune in the show “Memory.” At the end of the song, alone, sad and afraid she screams: “Touch me! It’s so easy to leave me all alone with the memory of my days in the sun. If you touch me you’ll understand what happiness is! Look! A New day has begun!” It is indeed a tear jerking moment to see the other cats slowly approach her and touch her. When they touch her it’s as if they become energized and filled with life. Having shunned her throughout the show, now they surround her and celebrate as she is the unlikely one chosen to be reborn into a new life.

The symbol of Grizabella and what happens to her speaks to me on a variety of levels. Of course, as a gay man, I have known and continue to know what it feels like to be shunned, laughed at and kept in the shadows of society. What struck me last night was Grizabella as a symbol of peacemaking.

In touching and not shunning the ills of the world, peace and happiness are achieved. It’s unfortunate that many feel that the so called “war on terror” is to be fought through bombs and armies and guns. This will only serve to prolong and intensify it. However, if we touch the ills of the world, peace will ensue. Some time ago, I watched a documentary in which a retired US Army General was interviewed. He said that, after being in Iraq he came to realize that the “war on terror” is not fought with guns, but by helping impoverished people. He said that many people are easily recruited by Al-Qaida because they give them money and an ideology of overthrowing the evil West who has used and abused them. He described an instance in Africa where the US Army successfully defeated Al-Qaida. Do you know how they won the war in that area? They dug a well for the people and provided water, which began to change their lives for the better. The people gradually no longer needed Al-Qaida and they drove them away. This General said it struck him that the simple digging of a well is what won this little “war.” He went on to say that the “war on terror” is to be won, not with guns and bombs, but by providing schools, clinics and basic services.

When I touch and help those who are alone, those who feel shunned or used, those who are poor and even those who have hurt and shunned me, then I understand more deeply what happiness and peace are. When I am no longer ruled by concern for protecting my own time or resources then I will know what freedom and happiness are. When I am no longer ruled by my resentments and can touch, and not react to one who has hurt me, then the energy of peace begins to break the cycle of conflict.