My public school (Brimwood Public School in Scarborough, Ontario, for those of you who are curious) put on a play when I was in grade 5. This was 1985 - back when big hair was in style, break dancing was cool and we we still went nuts when the Michael Jackson “Pepsi” commercial came on.
The play: it was titled “It’s Cool In The Furnace”, and I can still vividly hear the main chorus line of the main song: “Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, lived in Judah a long time ago …” Until last week, I actually had no idea what these lyrics were about; all I remembered about the play was having to wear some outfit that made me look like a Flintstone and getting to play in a kazoo chorus.
Turns out that this is a play based on some biblical happenings from the Book of David, if I recall correctly.
OK, so it’s 2007, and we all gasp collectively when we think about a public school - in one of the most liberal, multicultural cities in Canada - putting on such an overtly religious play. It seems doubly-odd that I had the social awareness to understand that many of my friends were not Christian, but it never clued into me that this was a Christian play. Surely they weren’t as ignorant as I was.
In retrospect, though, I’m glad I was that colour-blind to it. My mother left the Catholic church when I was about 5, and the only times I would see the inside of a church after that was for weddings and funerals. My father - a devout atheist - just didn’t talk about religion. As a result, I grew up without the awareness - and prejudice - of religion in my life.
Oddly, I was also afraid of churches during my pre-teen years. I remember riding my bicycle around Brimwood Boulevard when I was maybe ten or eleven, and spotting a beautiful black sports car in a church parking lot. I edged my way over to the car cautiously; it was the first time I ever saw the Porsche emblem up-close-and-personal, and it made a completely different lasting impression on me … but I also remember looking around nervously - like there was some sort of religious parking-lot overseer, waiting to strike me down for divine trespassing.
And so it went for many years - blissfully ignorant of most things religious. My maternal grandfather passed away when I was 14, and I crossed myself backwards (or upside-down, or both) at his funeral service. I tried communion once, and gulped down some of the wine - thinking it was just water.
If there’s a God, I hope he/she has a sense of humor.
3 comments
Posted in Blog
Written on Fri, 07 December 2007 at 9:06 am
Tags: Brimwood, Canada, church, God, Porsche, religion, Scarborough
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December 7th, 2007 at 11:18 am
If God doesnt have a since of humor we would all be going to hell. Thankfully he does. I remember being at a catholic funeral once and trust me that wine was not the grape juice I was use to in the baptist church. And that little waffer thing yeah I joke and almost puked…Thankfully God has a humor. I think that churches are given a huge mis conception. ALthough there are a few that would scare me most of them are like home once inside and full of people who want to love you. I have a lot of views on religon and churches so Ill stop now…lol
December 7th, 2007 at 3:54 pm
Wow, you’re brave. Blogging about religion.
January 3rd, 2008 at 10:32 am
This post brought back some fun memories. I spent a few formative years in Calgary (5th to 7th grades) and was in this same play - It’s Cool in the Furnace. I think mine was in 7th grade, about 1981 if I’m remembering correctly. I was in a Catholic public school (St. Augustine’s) so I guess it was a little more appropriate, but probably about a third of my class were not Catholics themselves (even then there were a very big number of south Asians and east Asians in Calgary, though most of the students in my school were of Ukranian or French descent). So, I played the part of Daniel, and had to sing the cheesy songs and pronounce Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednego (as well as Nebuchadnezzar) correctly multiple times in front of an audience of tittering middle schoolers and their parents. I still cringe at the thought…
I don’t think I knew where the story was from (though I had a vague sense of something biblical) and only reflected on it again when I was in college and studying Italian opera, and came across Verdi’s Nabucco (short for Nabuccodonosor - guess who that is…) and realized they were the same story. Verdi’s music is a little more inspiring. 
Anyway, thanks for bringing back a long lost memory. BTW, I’m now in Durham, NC, and found your blog via a link on the Duke University Library Hacks blog…