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What can an Academy Award-winning musical that’s been out for more than a half-century about a singing family fleeing the Nazis through the Austrian Alps teach us about finding our way through the coronavirus pandemic?
More than you might think.
Originally a Broadway musical based on the memoir of Maria von Trapp and debuting as a movie in the spring of 1965, “The Sound of Music” stars Julie Andrews as Maria and Christopher Plummer as the steel-edged Captain von Trapp.
The iconic film details Maria’s wrestling with life in a Catholic abbey, her uneven tenure as a governess of seven highly spirited and precocious children, an at-first reluctant romance – and then her family’s dramatic but triumphant escape from Adolf Hitler’s henchmen.
In addition to the wonderfully melodic tunes sprinkled throughout, what makes the movie all the more enjoyable is that it’s based on a true story. It’s also a film with many layers and lessons.
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When I was a youngster, our family used to watch “The Sound of Music” each Easter Sunday evening – an annual tradition enabled by network programmers. Our family has maintained the habit, and our boys love it, with the exception of 9-year-old Will, who grimaced this year at all the “mushy” scenes.
Our 14-year-old labeled the captain a “legend” for the way he deftly navigates two competing female suitors.
But these days, everything is viewed through the lens of the coronavirus pandemic, and as I watched the movie this past weekend, I was struck by some of the timeless principles embedded in the classic script.
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1. Pursue your mission and calling with grit and determination. The movie opens with novitiate Maria singing and enjoying the mountains and open Austrian air – only to discover she’s lost track of the time and is late for evening prayers back at the abbey.
Upon arrival, the Mother Abbess questions whether Maria is in the right place. “What is the most important lesson you have learned here?” she asks with suspicion.
“To find out what is the will of God and do it wholeheartedly,” Julie Andrews’ character replies.
Somebody once said the two most important days of your life are the day you were born and the day you discover why.
These long weeks of the coronavirus quarantine have shaken all of us from the status quo. Amidst the disruption, perhaps it’s a good time to ask if you’re really doing what you love and pursuing the dreams you’ve always had. As my mother used to say, “We come this way but once.” Don’t waste your life.
2. Express humility but have confidence in your abilities and potential. A shaken Maria accepts her new assignment with a bit of trembling – but seems to steel herself as she approaches the iron gates of the mansion.
“I am seeking the courage I lack, the courage to serve them with reliance,” she sings. “Face my mistakes without defiance.” Later in the song, we hear her declare, “I have confidence the world can all be mine … I have confidence in sunshine, I have confidence that spring will come again.”
The COVID-19 fallout hasn’t just rocked and routed financial markets and 401(k)s. It has also taken its toll on us emotionally and psychologically. With God’s help, we can rise again, climb back and come back – if we have confidence.
3. Mourn your losses – but then don’t be afraid to sing again. Maria arrives to the von Trapps’ to discover a father whose grief over the loss of his wife manifests itself in a militaristic atmosphere.
“The von Trapp children don’t play,” the housekeeper informs Maria. “They march. He runs this house as if he were on one of his ships again – whistles, orders, no more music, no more laughing.”
Maria’s smile and fun nature soon softens the captain, eliciting him to tell Maria, “You brought music back into the house. I had forgotten.”
After weeks of grief and sadness, it’s almost time for us to laugh and sing again – even while physical distancing.
4. Pursue a happy ending. Captain von Trapp courageously confronts officials when presented with his commission in the Third Reich. “To refuse them would be fatal for all of us,” he tells Maria. “And joining them would be unthinkable.”
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As the film concludes, the von Trapps face the enemy and pull off a heroic and dangerous escape in the dark of night. Back at the abbey, trying to escape the Nazis’ pursuit, Maria expresses fear to Mother Abbess, who urges her to turn to Scripture, quoting the 121st Psalm: “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills from whence cometh my help.” By morning the von Trapps are safely atop the Swiss Alps.
The coronavirus pandemic is certainly among the least of everyone’s “favorite things,” but like the theme of the iconic musical, our life’s song is yearning to be sung, and we will courageously climb and conquer this seemingly insurmountable mountain.
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