Götterdämmerung and Pentecost

All Saints Church, River Ridge, La. 05 25 09
Dear Friends in Christ,

A few weeks ago, I was privileged to be in New York at the Metropolitan Opera to see the last performance of the Otto Schenk production of Richard Wagner’s Götterdämmerung (Twilight of the Gods), the final opera of the Ring Cycle. At close to six hours, it is considered to be the longest opera in existence. This particular production is very conservative, using traditional scenery, costuming and staging. (The Met, in general, is a quite conservative opera company in this regard and eschews those avant garde productions now so common in Europe – which our friend Jim Wyrick and other opera critics refer to as “Euro-trash.”) The Ring Cycle (and Wagner in general) is often reviled as being intensely boring and much too long. One issue is that Wagner deals with great mythological, philosophical, and theological themes, while most operas are about lighter subjects. My experience with this opera was very positive. Each of the 3800 seats in the house was filled, and all the people I saw were on the edge of their seats for the entire six hour performance. What is so compelling about this?

In the Ring Cycle, Wagner presents a version of the Nordic myth of the Ring of the Nibelungen, in which, much like in Greek mythology, gods, goddesses, and humans interact in complex and often devious ways. The gods and goddesses often have far less integrity than the humans. The climax of the Ring Cycle is the collapse and destruction of Valhalla in the last act of Götterdämmerung (Twilight of the Gods). Here the whole world of Pagan deities is destroyed and the fate of the world is placed in the hands of humanity, and an unknown future. The answer to this future comes in Wagner’s final opera, Parsifal, which is much later than the Ring Cycle. Here he picks up these themes by depicting the triumph of Christian love and the Eucharist over Pagan intrigue. What Wagner presents in elaborate allegory, the Bible presents with splendid reality.

Sunday is Pentecost. Pentecost celebrates the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, sent by the Father, through the Son, to transform the world. Pentecost is often thought of as the Birthday of the Church. It is beginning of the undoing of and transcending of the curses associated with Genesis 3-11. This undoing begins with of the curse of languages and tribes and nations which are depicted in the Tower of Babel story. Human pride, as an affront to God, is displayed in the building of the tower. God destroys this tower, multiplies languages, and divides humanity into competing tribes and nations. This is seen as the judgment of God against human pride. The gift at Pentecost is the answer to this. Without undoing the beauty of the diversity of peoples and languages, the Holy Spirit transcends this curse and allows mutual comprehension of the message of salvation. Each person hears the Good News in his or her own language. The book of Acts then follows this as a new community is formed out of peoples from every tribe, family and nation. The many Valhallas of competing gods and goddesses collapse as the church’s message of salvation in Christ spreads from Jerusalem, to Judea, Samaria, to the ends of the world. The Pentecostal gift of the Spirit undoes and transforms the stains of sin into a new life of Love and Communion. May the Valhallas of our many contemporary gods and goddesses, collapse as the transformative power of the Holy Spirit breaks in among us in new and powerful ways.