PHILADELPHIA—“What’s most amazing is the inspirationalism. It’s very inspirational—the whole show talks of spirit and soul. It shows the discipline of the ancient Chinese people. They are well-disciplined, well—divine, and then they commune with their creator.”
This is how Archbishop Alfred Adelekan, an executive college member and nuncio to Africa of the World Bishops Council, described the Divine Performing Arts show, which he attended at the Merriam Theater in Philadelphia on Sunday, Dec. 21.
Originally from Nigeria, Archbishop Adelekan is also the regional president of the World Federation of Churches in the eastern United States and the African sub-region. He has traveled widely and holds a number of important positions in various ecumenical organizations.
“Most of the things we watch here talk of your living on earth and then having somewhere to return to, but before you can return you have to be righteous. And to be righteous you have to do good to your fellow man. So the whole thing teaches us that we must do good to our fellow man, and then you will respect every individual, and you must live for others, love for others. This is what I really get from the whole thing.”
He said that many of the performances conveyed that there is “somewhere to go” after life on earth.
“So whatever you do on earth will show how you come back to heaven. And then we see also how the devil wanted to tempt man, and how the devil was defeated, and then the angels carried his soul all the way to God.”
The archbishop added that the DPA performances depict human beings’ universal connectedness and “that we are all one, all over the world.”
“Every one of the programs talks of loving your brothers and sisters, and a lot of them show that we have one lineage with God. And through this lineage, you know that she’s your sister and you are my brother. So if we can all live together like that, like brothers and sisters, God himself must have fulfilled his aim of creating man.
“So it’s very divine, it’s a divine kind of a play, and I am really moved.”
For more information please visit divineperformingarts.org
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