Reverend Mother Reflections

Sermon | December 17, 2023 | Lisa Jebsen

This past Sunday, part of my sermon included my reflections on the unexpected spiritual journey of portraying Mother Abbess (AKA Mother Superior or Reverend Mother) in MCT’s production of The Sound of Music. As with other sermons, I wrestled with how to express my thoughts – probably more than necessary. Nevertheless, I’m so happy I fought through my frustrations, misgivings and perfectionistic tendencies and got it down on (digital) paper. Here’s a slightly edited, slightly expanded version of what I expressed on the pulpit…

One part of preparation for today included a review of the sermon from a similar service last year (just to ensure that I wasn’t repeating myself) and let me just say, it was very strange to read 2022 Lisa’s words! December 2022 seems like such a long time ago. 

At any rate, the heart of that sermon was the story of my spiritual experience while playing the Ghost of Christmas Past in a touring production of A Christmas Carol. It was one of those magic performances where everything just felt correct – and in my final scene with Ebeneezer Scrooge, my fellow actor and I felt an incredible connection – like current of electricity running through our bodies. At the risk of being pretentious, I’m going to go ahead and quote my own sermon…

Now to the best of my recollection, we never “got there” again. And it’s my sincerest hope that we didn’t spend the rest of that tour trying to chase down that same type of moment. Once was enough. I cherish it. Did it come from a higher power? A spirit? Like a good Unitarian Universalist – I haven’t settled on a fixed answer. I just know that in my own experience it was real and I’m thrilled to have had it – it was even more special since I got to share it with a fellow actor whom I respected so. I cherish the memory as an actor yes, but even more as a spiritual seeker. As we say during the welcome of every service – “we are a gathering of spiritual seekers who celebrate the diverse reflection of the divine in our lives.” 
I’m here to tell you that in those moments onstage somewhere in the Midwest on a December night in 1996, I felt that connection to the divine.  

Little did 2022 Lisa know that 2023 Lisa would experience a similar feeling in the role of Mother Superior in Sound of Music. However, in this case, it goes beyond a moment in a particular performance.  In fact the whole process of rehearsing and performing has been a journey, resulting in a profound impact on my spiritual growth. 

So back to the beginning…. In September, I impulsively decided to audition for the role, thinking it would be a nice, featured part with the added bonus of one last chance to work with Tim before our move. Once I was cast, I (rather arrogantly) declared to my husband that memorizing things was easy for me, so with a role of this size and my familiarity with the show, it should be no problem. 

Ha!

Now if this was a movie, that scene would immediately segue into a montage of me driving myself insane trying to memorize all the Latin sung by the nuns, as well as the frustrations of wrapping my head around the syntax of Reverend Mother. She doesn’t have that many lines, but her pattern of speech is so very different from my own. And I was bound and determined to get it right, trusting that mastering this different way of speaking would help me unlock part of the character. Being challenged this way got me out of my comfort zone – something that is crucial to exploring spirituality and a direct connection to our 4th UU principle: the free and responsible search for truth and meaning. 

The role also got me out of my comfort zone because it required me to seek a basic understanding of a way of life that I will never know, so that I might respectfully portray a religious tradition so very far from my own spiritual practice! This was just another part of this wonderful, unexpected spiritual journey that has deepened my beliefs and commitment to the Unitarian Universalist faith.

Other struggles I had with the script: it’s dated, shall we say, plus Reverend Mother doesn’t always respond in an expected way to her cues. Once again, Arrogant Actor Lisa initially dismissed this as a fault of the book and yet, the deeper I went, the more I came to realize that part of this could help me though some of my misgivings and mistrust of said book. In fact, I now believe that in the text there is strong evidence to support the concept that Mother Superior is a Catholic Buddhist who ascribes to many of our UU principles. 

In terms of the “Catholic Buddhist” statement I just made: while it might sound like a contradiction, stick with me. If we define the Buddhist faith in this way from history.com … 

Followers of Buddhism don’t acknowledge a supreme god or deity. They instead focus on achieving enlightenment—a state of inner peace and wisdom. When followers reach this spiritual echelon, they’re said to have experienced nirvana. 

I think that this is a fascinating lens with which to view Reverend Mother. She encourages Maria to seek her own “nirvana” with wondering questions like “how does God want you to spend your love?” Gentle guidance like this is given to Maria and others throughout the show.  

Such a far cry from the stereotypical, stern nuns that show up in so many plays and movies! But don’t get it twisted: when necessary, she can also be as firm as any ruler-wielding nun out there. As when Maria runs away from the Von Trapp home: she is utterly shattered by her feelings for the Captain and while Reverend Mother empathizes, she doesn’t let Maria off the hook. She makes her go back to face her problems and discover the “life she is born to live” with the anthem, “Climb Ev’ry Mountain,” a song that would easily fit into a Buddhist hymnal, if there was such a thing. 

Climb every mountain, search high and low 

Follow every byway, every path you know 

Climb every mountain, ford every stream. 

Follow every rainbow till you find your dream. 

Then there are the rhetorical questions she asks in the song “Maria” that sound as if they could have come from Buddha himself:

How do you catch a cloud and pin it down? 

How do you keep a wave upon the sand?

How do you hold a moonbeam in your hand?

One last argument in favor of my Catholic-Buddist-UU interpretation of Mother Superior is perhaps the most important. All of the time and thought given to Maria (from the leader of the nuns at Nonnberg Abbey no less!) felt a lot like Mother Superior living out our first UU principle: the inherent worth and dignity of all people.

I like to think that I have a bit of the Reverend Mother in me as UU minister. Over the last few weeks, dealing with various ups and downs, I have found myself asking, what would Reverend Mother do?

What a blessing to be given the opportunity to face down all these challenges and epiphanies while exploring this character. The team of MCT staff and volunteers made us actors look so good with fabulous, eye-popping visuals and backstage support. I got to spend time on stage with so many talented actors – but I have to give a special shout out to Rachel Harper in the role of Maria! I spent the most time on stage interacting with her and without all the wonderful energy she shared with me onstage, I never would have found the same Mother Superior. 

The creative process of creating and portraying a character has always been holy to me. It’s yet another lesson I learned from Mother Abbess: how very entwined my spiritual and creative sides are. I will miss living as her on stage but it’s a comfort to know that she will always live on inside of me. 

I will end this in the most Mother Superior way I can think of… “Bless you, my child.”