{"id":65710,"date":"2024-11-19T18:03:10","date_gmt":"2024-11-20T00:03:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/?p=65710"},"modified":"2024-11-19T18:03:11","modified_gmt":"2024-11-20T00:03:11","slug":"ars-praedicandi-christ-the-king","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2024\/11\/19\/ars-praedicandi-christ-the-king\/","title":{"rendered":"Ars Praedicandi: Christ the King"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

While I like to think of myself as a realist
from time to time, for my own sanity,
I need to escape from the social\/political noise and news
and retreat into a bit of fantasy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Often that takes the form of listening to
a great piece of fiction on Audible
such as Kaveh Akbar\u2019s\u00a0Martyr<\/em>
or Richard Powers\u2019\u00a0Bewilderment.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Less often I get a chance to escape to the theatre
but a friend and I decided to do just that 
a few days before the election
to provide some respite
from the robo-texts and attack ads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our avenue for escape was the musical \u201cSome like it Hot.\u201d 
I vaguely remember the 1959 movie of the same title
and figured it would be a lighthearted romp
with an inconsequential plot and plenty of pleasant tunes
though I didn\u2019t know a single song from the score.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is providential that I recently had my annual physical
and my primary reported that the old ticker was still strong
otherwise, I might have needed to down
a few nitroglycerin tablets
when\u00a0Some Like it Hot<\/em>\u00a0exploded onto the stage
and blazed forward with non-stop energy
for a dazzling 150 minutes
with mesmerizing choreography,\u00a0
voices so powerful they could be adapted for military usage,
and staging worthy of the keystone cops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While more than worthy of its star-studded celluloid predecessor,
this stage version is a completely different animal
from the highly entertaining\u00a0
Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemon classic,
often rated among the best comedies of all time,\u00a0
but essentially a farce designed to tickle your funny bone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In contrast, beneath the veneer of its razzle-dazzle,\u00a0
the stage version of\u00a0Some Like it Hot<\/em>\u00a0is deadly serious
digging deep into issues of integrity
the honest journey into our authentic selves
and ultimately \u2013 in gospel mode \u2013 about truth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the past few weeks, I have been reading about the psychology
of lying and truth-telling.
One shocking study baldly stated that not only everybody lies
but that we do it all the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Psychologist\u00a0Robert Feldman<\/a>\u00a0conducted a celebrated study
in which he discovered that 60% of people lied at least once
during a single 10-minute conversation,
and most told two or three lies.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The researchers were authentically quite surprised noting:
\u201cWe didn’t expect lying to be such a common part of daily life!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another researcher found that during a single week
we deceive about 30% of the folk<\/a> we have a one-on-one with. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is not surprising, therefore, that\u00a0children pick up this behavior<\/a>,
sometimes as early as 2 years of age.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of these childish deceptions can be hilarious<\/a>, for example, <\/p>\n\n\n\n