Six Degrees of Separation

John David’s Monday Morning Back Page

It is interesting to see where my mind goes when I step outside of my comfort zone,
and discover what Spirit, through scripture,
has to say about the spaces where I have chosen to live.

In recent days I became aware that an excellent explanation of the extent some people will go through to enhance their sense of worth will be presented by one of the Westchester hidden treasures. , . Opening on January 8th and continuing through February 13thh the Kentwood Players will present Six Degrees of Separation. The play brings to life a phrase that is common in 21st century conversations and observations.

Six Degrees of Separation refers to the idea that, if a person is one step away from each person they know, and two steps away from each person who is known by one of the people they know, then everyone is at most six steps away from any other person on Earth. The term was popularized by playwright John Guare’s intriguing, insightful exploration of celebrity and the games we play to elevate our significance. The plot of his play was inspired by the real-life story of David Hampton, a con man who managed to convince a number of people that he was the son of actor Sidney Poitier.

In Guare's play, Paul, the African-American protagonist, arrives at the doorstep of moneyed Manhattanites Flan and Ouisa Kittredge under the false pretenses that he is Sidney Poitier's son, having been violently mugged and claiming to have found them because he is a classmate of the couple’s kids. But Paul is not what he seems, and his presence in their lives becomes a catalyst by which everyone else entertains questions of race, class, money and morals.

The same line of thinking is done in the game known as “Seven Degrees of Kevin Bacon” and in the book “The Tipping Point.”

To some degree we see this line of thinking when people identify with a team of their choosing. Without ever getting on the court, without breaking a sweat it is not uncommon to hear fans of the Los Angeles Lakers shout “We” won the championship.

The more I think about this the funnier it becomes. By virtue of several long term relationships I can say that I am only two or three “degrees” from several United States presidents, both California Senators, and countless other well known people. By extension this allows you to add one more degree and say that because you know me, and I know someone who knows someone else, and that person knows THE person, YOU are, therefore, a person of significance.

Sad to say but there are some who go to church and think that because they attend church with some degree of regularity, may do some good work from time to time, and may call themselves “a Christian” they get the rights and privileges that go with that title. A casual reading of scripture should help us understand that this is not the case. It is about a personal relationship with Jesus that makes this genuine. How one experiences that relationship, is of course, very individualized.

By the way, you are, by virtue of your active involvement at WCC, only one degree of separation from the actors in this production. Talk to Charlotte, (THE grand lady of the Kentwood Players) for ticket and other information about this production. I’ll see you there.


Thanks God. You have given me the plan.
I choose to get busy and work YOUR plan.

John-David

thelajohndavid@gmail.com
010310