----------------------------- A NOTE REGARDING THIS VERSION ----------------------------- This script is from the HIS COMPANY CATALOGUE of plays and musical resources. It is in ASCII (or plain text) format, and is intended only to be used for evaluation purposes. Visit our web site at http://hc.dlampel.com to download the FREE Adobe Acrobat (PDF) version for performance. ----------- DESCRIPTION ----------- Dimensions is a flexible monologue for Moses: Flexible in that it can be used to illustrate the historical moment and character of the man, or it can be used to emphasize a more universal point. The time frame of this monologue is just after his burning bush experience. In it the man Moses expresses the evolution of greatness in his life. Born into subjection, he was raised in royalty, but then in middle age was reduced to the lowly, earthy life of a shepherd. Thinking he could go no lower, at the bush the Lord God demonstrated he could, and, as a consequence, Moses learned the truth about servanthood--and Lordship. ------ SCRIPT ------ DIMENSIONS a monologue for Moses by David S. Lampel Copyright (c) 2000 David S. Lampel His Company [Moses enters onto a dark stage. As lights up, Moses is staring out at the audience, wide-eyed. He has just returned from the burning bush that held the presence of the Lord, and is in a state of shock. In his mind, Moses is still processing what has taken place. After a mildly uncomfortable pause...] Moses (stunned) I used to be great. (pause; gradually loosening) I used to be great. There was a time, back in Egypt, when I held the future of that nation in my hands. My army had defeated Ethiopia, you see. I had come back the victor, and my future was assured. Or so I thought. I used to be great--and I served greatness. My grandfather was a man who stood higher than all the rest. He was Pharaoh--He was king! And he had taken me into his household to school me in the ways of the throne. Then he had given me the privilege of serving him in war--the chance to defeat the invading armies from the south. And I did--came back the victor. Ah, I used to be great. From low beginnings I rose to power through the love of my adopted mother and the kindness of the Pharaoh. But "kindness" can be a fragile connection to a king; neither he, nor I, could forget that the blood coursing through my veins was, in fact, Hebrew, not Egyptian. Though for the sake of my mother the king expressed generosity toward me, it was never anything I could depend on. Even after my victory in Ethiopia, I could still feel the resentment of the Egyptians. The common people, the peasants. They knew I was a pretender; they knew I wasn't one of them. Yet I had no better from those of my own stock--those living in miserable conditions who might have seen me as their savior. They, too, resented me for what I had become. So, at the height of my fame, I found myself a man without a country. (pause; darker) Then I killed a man. One day I could take no more of the brutal treatment my people were receiving, and I killed the Egyptian wielding the whip. But I stood alone, as usual. The Egyptians hated me for turning against them--the Hebrews hated me for taking the law into my own hands! (painfully) Even grandfather turned against me, tried to eliminate me quietly, to rid himself of someone who had become a political liability. (long pause; nostalgically) I used to be great. (with a sigh) But then I became small. I became something lower than the people I had tried to defend--something lower even than the delta mud from which they made new bricks. The desert became my sanctuary--and the desert became the place where old ambitions were cooked out of me: pride, glory, wealth, fame. By the end of it I was as simple and base as a loaf of peasant bread fresh from the hearth. I was left stripped of ambition. (pause) Shepherds have no need of ambition or pride. They tend their charges with a comfortable contempt for anything not pastoral. (with mild sarcasm) They cultivate simplemindedness as a cherished gift--the highest plane on which man can dwell. We shepherds pay no mind to politics or power or wealth, holding equal disdain for all. So there I was, comfortably small, with the aroma of sheep my cloak. Mine was a small life that I believed could get no smaller. But then it did. Then the bush burned. Oh, it didn't really burn. When something burns, it's destroyed. This bush. glowed with fire, as if burning, but wasn't consumed. The sheep saw it and ran--I saw it and went to see how a dried scrub bush wasn't destroyed by the flames it wore. As I drew closer, I felt none of the expected heat--as one would expect to be warmed when approaching a fire in camp. Yet there was a repellant brilliance that slowed my step. Even after all the fanciful entertainments of Egyptian court life, I had never seen anything like this before. Just as I moved to inspect the curiosity more closely, I heard the voice. (with hushed intensity) It was the Lord. The God who had set my people in Egypt--the God who had promised to return and set them free--was calling to me from out of the fire. I had never known Him very well. The blood of His people coursed through my veins, but He was still a stranger. Even now, I don't know why He chose me. Then He stopped me, and with His words I became smaller yet. For God declared that the ground--the dirt and sand and common rock--around that bush was holy--holy because He was there! I suddenly realized that whatever stature I had remaining was nothing next to His. This voice belonged to the God of all eternity, and next to Him I was nothing. (long pause) Someday people will ask why I obeyed. Someday people will wonder why I didn't just turn away and return to my flocks. I may have a different answer by then--after I've completed the task He's assigned me. But right now--with the smell of His presence still in my nostrils--right now I would answer that I obey because I must. There is no other choice. (with intensity) He is holy, you see. And I am not. There's room for only one God, and the position has already been filled. And if He selects me to serve Him--in spite of who I am--then. I have no choice but to obey. Lights down. Moses exits. ---------------- COPYRIGHT NOTICE ---------------- This script is Copyright (C) 2012 David S. Lampel. This data file is the sole property of David S. Lampel. The data file may not be altered or edited in any way. It may be reproduced only in its entirety for circulation as "freeware," without charge. All reproductions of this data file must contain the copyright notice (i.e., "Copyright (C) 2012 David S. Lampel"). This data file may not be used without the permission of David S. Lampel for resale or the enhancement of any other product sold. This includes all of its content. Brief quotations not to exceed more than 500 words may be used, with the appropriate copyright notice, to enhance or supplement personal or church devotions, newsletters, journals, promotions, or spoken messages. Permission is hereby extended for this script to be printed for rehearsal and performance use. Copies may be reproduced in sufficient number for the director, actors, and technical personnel, as long as each copy contains the copyright notice (i.e., "Copyright (C) 2012 David S. Lampel") ----------------- USING THIS SCRIPT ----------------- For electronic distribution, the Internet version of this script uses the following conventions: * character names are in ALL CAPS. * stage directions within a character's line are enclosed in parentheses (e.g., "(with anger)"). * stage directions without are enclosed in brackets (e.g., "[They exit.]"). * the plus sign (+) indicates when to cue trax or begin intro for next song ---------------------------------------------------------------------- These plays and musical resources are made available free-of-charge, without obligation, in service to our Lord and to His glory. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- David S. Lampel Winterset, IA 50273 USA Complete resources at http://hc.dlampel.com/ "For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen." (Rom 11:36) 20120305