Speech: “All the world’s a stage”

BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

(from As You Like It, spoken by Jaques)

                                        All the world’s a stage,

And all the men and women merely players;

They have their exits and their entrances;

And one man in his time plays many parts,

His acts being seven ages. At first the infant,

Mewling and puking in the nurse’s arms;

And then the whining school-boy, with his satchel

And shining morning face, creeping like snail

Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,

Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad

Made to his mistress’ eyebrow. Then a soldier,

Full of strange oaths, and bearded like the pard,

Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel,

Seeking the bubble reputation

Even in the cannon’s mouth. And then the justice,

In fair round belly with good capon lin’d,

With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,

Full of wise saws and modern instances;

And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts

Into the lean and slipper’d pantaloon,

With spectacles on nose and pouch on side;

His youthful hose, well sav’d, a world too wide

For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice,

Turning again toward childish treble, pipes

And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,

That ends this strange eventful history,

Is second childishness and mere oblivion;

Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.

RESPONSE:

I took a trip recently with my family to Atlanta, GA. For anyone who has ever been there (or any major city for that matter) you know that there’s one thing you can always count on: TRAFFIC. My daughter (8) and I were looking down out of our hotel window at all of the cars when I proposed a philosophical thought: Every one of those cars down has their own story.

In the digital age we are all put forth center stage, or so we think. From our “40,000ft View” we could literally see how far from the center we really were. EVERYONE you pass on the way to work, in the hallway, or rest beside in the pew has their own story. They have their own journeys. They have their own problems. They have their own triumphs.

We are not alone on our journey. You will find that you have much more in common with your fellow man than you think. Most people want to work to provide for their family, enjoy the fruits of their labor, and live long, happy lives. While there are forces that would hinder that progress, we have a much greater force on our side: The Lord God Almighty.

His single, unifying, all-powerful presence that lives within believers can overcome ALL obstacles. He has a guiding hand in all of our lives and even more so when we accept that Jesus is our Lord and Savior. Let Jesus be the Writer and Director of this play we call life. Follow His lead and the most beautiful performance will commence. One day, you might just meet everyone you saw from the top of that hotel and get to live their life through their own telling. Praising God for all eternity and hearing wondrous stories from all of those people sounds pretty grand to me.

God bless you all.