A Les Misérables Friday

Do you hear the people sing
Lost in the valley of the night
It is the music of a people
Who are climbing to the light

For the wretched of the earth
There is a flame that never dies
Even the darkest night will end
And the sun will rise.

I’ve read about the Christian themes and motives in Les Misérables, but I was still surprised by how dominant they were. It was so fitting that we watched the 10th anniversary concert DVD on Good Friday. It was the best illustration of the transformative power of grace I have ever seen.

The greatest master stroke is how the same song was used to close both Act 1 and 2. A standard feature in musicals, yes. But in the first act the French revolutionists sing it, calling for others to rise up and fight for an earthly cause – a freer and fairer France. In the second act, the call changes into a crusade for an eternal cause as Valjeen’s page on earth, glowing with the testimony of how grace transformed a hardened criminal into a force of good in the world, is turned.

Will you join in our crusade?
Who will be strong and stand with me?
Somewhere beyond the barricade
Is there a world you long to see?

It reminds me so much of what Easter brings – a promise that one day, life will be perfected. As people living in an unjust, wounded world, we all need that hope.