Weakness

This sound and music collage explores God's grace and the concept of "power in weakness." The text is from Paul's letters to the Corinthians and the Romans with original writings by Christy Bagasao in reaction to his letters. The soundtrack is primarily crafted from ambient sounds, voices and performers on a balmy night on a main street in Santa Barbara, California. Listen on headphones to hear the world of sounds that circle the speaking voices.

This piece focuses on questions people have asked for ages, not just "Why do bad things happen to good people?" but "Why do bad things happen at all?"

Apostle Paul was an extraordinary and ordinary man who struggled with these same thoughts. "Why do I do what I don't want to do? Why am I weak?" This piece contains excerpts of his writings to the Corinthians and the Romans. Seven passages from his writings are used verbatim in this piece. Additionally Christy Bagasao's writing expresses Paul's point that we have sufficient power because God's grace works through our weakness.

"No matter how deep the pit, God's grace is deeper" is a quote from Corrie Ten Boom, read by my grandmother Marie Mikels.

This piece is part of a larger theater work called Project Paul. The image is a still taken from the video by Scott Baye that supports this scene.