Crossing the Divine

Abstract

This thesis originated from my struggles to reconcile my own Christian understanding of God and biblical passages and interpretations that one must believe in Jesus as savior to go to Heaven with my innate sense that other spiritual paths are just as valid. As I wrote, I added a theodicy section reflecting the conflict I see between the loving God I have come to know in my life and the many forms of violence and hatred rampant in the world. I also found certain violent passages in the Bible challenging. Crossing the Divine is a theatrical exploration of the nature of God and how to connect to the Divine. Although some reading and research contributed to deciding on topics of exploration, the play is primarily my own thought process in working through these questions. My goal is to audience members to think about their own journeys and to begin dialogues in which people can respectfully and honestly discuss their beliefs with each other. One of my main conclusions is that no one person on Earth has all the answers, but we can learn more about the Divine by learning from each other and by examining our own beliefs and why they are relevant to our lives.