God’s Glasses: A Dramatic Sketch By Clay Wilkerson

Cast: Steve, Jesus, Cody, Tina, Pablo

(Steve is wearing a pair of glasses and has just left the optometrist.  He enters through a door with a sign for an optometrist’s office hanging above it.  Jesus is standing center stage and is also wearing glasses.  Steve begins to walk by him without noticing him)

Jesus: So, Steve, how’s the vision?

Steve: (Startled) Don’t I know you…..wait!  But you couldn’t possibly be….Jesus!?

Jesus: Yes, that’s me.

Steve: But how can I see you?  Dr. Brown must have REALLY adjusted these glasses.  (Looks again) You know, I never really pictured you as wearing glasses.

Jesus: Well, Steve, there are many things about me that you don’t know as well as you think you do.

Steve: That’s true, but I can like SEE you now!  These old glasses are really wonderful!

Jesus: I’m not so sure about that.  Actually, Steve, I came to you because I am worried about your vision.  You can’t see at all.

Steve: But Dr. Brown just said that my vision is fine.

Jesus: Hey, they don’t call me the Great Physician for nothing.  Look, here comes Cody.

(Cody enters from stage left and crosses the stage carrying a shopping bag)

Cody: (unhappy about having seen Steve) Oh, hey Steve.

Steve: (cold tone) Yeah. Hey.

Jesus: Stop. (Cody freezes)  Steve, look at Cody.  What do you see?

Steve: I see someone who makes me sick.  I hate him.  Everyone at school knows that he’s a total fag.  He disgusts me and I don’t understand how anyone could be that way.  I know that everybody sins, but not like that.  I hope that sick little queer never talks to me again.  I just wish people like him had never been born.  You must hate him, too.

Jesus: No, I don’t hate him.  Far from it.  But, what you saw is not what I see at all.  Let’s try something.  Trade glasses with me and look again.

Cody: Are you sure?

Jesus: Yes. (They exchange glasses) Now tell me what you see.

Steve: (a bit stunned) I never knew what Cody’s life was like.  I had no idea he had been….abused like that.  He never even knew his dad at all.  He’s really fighting a battle inside himself, isn’t he?  He struggles with sins and problems just like I do.  It’s like I see someone struggling to figure out who they should be and what they should do, but the things that have happened in Cody’s past are making that hard for him.  He prays for your help.  But, mostly, he’s just really lonely.  No one will even give him a chance because they assume things about him by the way he acts or seems to be sometimes.  He needs someone to be his friend and to pray for him.

Jesus: Now, that’s what I see.

(They exchange glasses once again. Cody exits)

Jesus: There is someone else you know.  (Tina enters)  Aren’t you going to say “hello?”

Steve: To who?  Tina, the human freak show?  No thanks, she’s really out there.  I’m sure you wouldn’t like her anyway.

Tina: (angry at seeing Steve): Hello, Steve.

Jesus: Stop.  (Tina freezes) Look at her.  Tell me, what do you see?

Steve: I see a weirdo who spends everyday dressed up like it’s Halloween with her black clothes and makeup.  She’s probably some kind of drug addict or devil worshipper or something.  She is a complete psycho?  Do you even know what she did last weekend?  She practically drained a whole keg at Ted’s party and then went one some kind of crazy rampage.

Jesus: So, you were at that party, huh?

Steve: Ummm….yeah, but that’s beside the point, we are talking about Tina here.  She started screaming and breaking stuff, then she started crying and took a knife from the kitchen, slumped down in the corner and started cutting herself.  When I look at her, I see a complete freak who is absolutely out of her mind and out of control.

Jesus: Really? That’s very strange.  That’s nothing like what I am seeing when I look at her.  Try looking through mine.  (They exchange glasses)

Steve: Oh man, I feel so sorry for her now.  I just had no idea…. Her grandmother died last fall and she had to move back in with her parents.  Half of the time she has to fend for herself because her parents are too drunk or high to notice her.  Sometimes they even hurt her.  She drinks and acts so crazy just to get away from it all.  She cuts herself to let the pain and anger out, but it doesn’t help her.  She is so angry at everyone.  She is even angry at you sometimes.  I just feel so bad about how I treated her now.  I just didn’t know what her life was like.  She really needs your people to stop worrying about how she looks and acts so that they can help her to find you.  She needs your help more than anything.

Jesus: That’s what I see. (The exchange glass again and Tina exits)

Steve: Oh no, there’s Pablo.  (Pablo enters and Steve won’t even look at him)

Jesus: Stop.  (Pablo freezes) What do you see when you look at him?

Steve: Him?  Someone whose last name I can’t even pronounce.  He probably eats things I keep as pets.  I mean, does he even speak English?  Those people, they make me really uncomfortable.  They all look the same, and they talk about you, and you can’t understand what they are saying.  I just can’t stand being around those people.  He just needs to go back to wherever he came from.  If I were you, I’d keep an eye on my wallet with him around.  He is probably just here to pickpocket or mug someone.

Jesus: That is NOT what I see. Look again.  (They exchange glasses)

Steve: You, know, he’s really been through a lot.  He and his family barely had enough food to stay alive where he came from.  They just eked out a living day by day.  He didn’t even have a bed.  He had to sleep on a dirt floor with his brothers and sisters.  When his family had a chance to come to America, they took it.  Even though they are poor by our American standards, he’s really rich compared to what he had in Mexico.  He goes to church every Sunday and he really loves you.  Pablo looks so different from me, but we really are very much alike.  I see someone who is trying his best to make it and find his way in this life.  But no one will give him a chance. 

(They exchange glasses and Pablo exits.)

Jesus: Hey, Steve.  There’s a mirror over there.  Look in it and tell me what you see?

Steve:  I see me.  And I’m looking pretty good if I do say so myself.  I’ve got it all figured out and am pretty much doing the right things.

Jesus: Steve, look again.  (They exchange glasses)

Steve: I see….a hypocrite!  I say that I love you, but I judge people based on how they look or what other people say about them.  I pass judgment on them because I want to feel like I am better than they are.  But you’ve forgiven me for many sins, and you’ve overlooked my faults….I just won’t extend the same courtesy to others.  I see someone who needs to change.  (turns away from the mirror to Jesus)  I don’t understand this!  I though I was seeing things as they really were, but every time I look through your glasses I see something totally different than what I saw with my own eyes.  You see us for what we really are, on the inside, and you love us anyway, don’t you?

Jesus:  I know how to cure your problem Steve.  You keep my glasses, and I’ll take yours.

Copyright Clay Wilkerson 2008