How to Get Blessed Without Sneezing: Rediscovering the Beatitudes

Think Marcel Marceau visiting Pee-wee's Playhouse and deciding to put on Godspell in this bemusedly curious video. Silent clown Avner ("the Eccentric") Eisenberg and Fred Newman (Mickey Mouse Club) pantomime 8 short fables, each based on one of the beatitudes. Replete with cartoonish props, sets, and music, the video is meant to be a springboard for group discussion--both for children and adults--toward understanding "some of Jesus' most radical sayings." For example, to illustrate "those who mourn," Eisenberg develops a hole in his stomach when his beloved bird dies. He goes to the park, and notices a woman spreading bird-bread on the ground. She, too, has a hole in her stomach, out of which she gives him a handkerchief and a cup of coffee. Out of his stomach he provides a doughnut. After watching this scene, the class is encouraged--in the study guide--to share personal experiences of mourning, discuss the role of God in the process, and determine whether the beatitude promises they will "get over it." With a competent leader at the discussion-group helm, these vignettes can be thought-provoking and touching, but they are kind of, well, strange. Recommended, with some reservations, for those who don't mind more-than-a-bit of whimsy in their religious educational tools. (K. Glaser)