Come From Away and the Gift of Hospitality

                                           Come From Away Stage, Gander, Newfoundland 

 

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 

Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. 

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  

And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, 

will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4: 4-7 NRSVue 

 In September of 2001 hundreds of US-bound airplanes were diverted from American airspace because of the terrorist attacks involving planes used as weapons of mass destruction. Hundreds landed at Canadian airports including 38 at Gander, Newfoundland. 

You may be aware that the town of Gander was built as an aviation waystation during WW2 as military aircraft crossed the Atlantic. For a time this airport was the largest in the world and for 30 years or so following the end of the war many commercial planes landed in Gander coming from Europe. Even in the early 80s, when we lived in an outport 60 kilometres from Gander, there were regular defections by passengers from Eastern European countries behind the Iron Curtain on their way to Cuba. 

On the fateful day now known as 911, 7,000 passengers from scores of countries found themselves in a town of 9,000 most of weren't aware existed, in a country they hadn't intended to visit. Initially the passengers and crews had no idea why the planes were forced to land far from their destinations and some had to remain onboard for more than 24 hours. 

This is an artist's interpretation of flights being diverted to Gander International Airport. (Submitted by Seattle Repertory Theatre )

A "loaves and fishes" minor miracle of hospitality occurred when Gander and surrounding communities provided food and shelter and kindness for several days until is was possible for their guests to leave. Out of this experience came the hit musical, Come From Away, enthuiastically received in New York and Toronto and other big cities.

We figured we were the last people in North America who hadn't seen Come From Away (we weren't) when we took it in earlier this week  in Gander. All the performances in the 400-seat Arts and Culture Centre have been sold out and the corny cliche, "we laughed, we cried, it became a part of us" was apt for our response. The cast and the musicians were wonderful.

I didn't expect two powerful religious moments during the performance. A bus driver speaks about taking a load of non-English speaking passengers to a Salvation Army Camp where they were frightened at the sight of uniformed greeters. He sees one of them with a bible and turns to Philippians 4 and the verses above. This actually took place.

Later one of the characters recalls a hymn from childhood, Make Me a Channel of Your Peace, based on the prayer of St. Francis. This is sung and interwoven with the sung prayer by a rabbi, the lone Jewish passenger, while a Muslim, who was regarded with great suspicion, kneels in prayer. Yup, I shed a few tears. 

We're so glad we finally saw Come From Away. We had just come from visiting a friend now living in a nursing home in Gander whose family welcomed us decades before, a young "come from away" couple who arrived straight from Toronto. Hospitality is a spiritual gift we can all practice, although some seem to do so better than others. 

Two quick notes: a local restaurant owner was invited on stage before the performance to share that he was enlisted to provide what turned out to be thousands of meals for the stranded passengers back in 2001.

And on stage there is a map with crocheted friendship squares, made by Newfoundlanders. The word went out that they wanted 100 for the production. They received 2,200 so they are on the walls throughout the theatre. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OK7ts5Uy-w