We listened to the music on repeat when it first came out (let's be honest, we still do that) and we dreamt about going to see the show, even though we couldn't afford it, and we even obsessed over the cast over social media. But the musical, Hamilton, is more than just another show that we add to our favorite musical list. This show has taught us that...
1. Revenge won't make up for the anger that you have been holding onto.
Burr suffered with this his entire life. Burr sings, "History obliterates In every picture it paints It paints me and all my mistakes When Alexander aimed At the sky He may have been the first one to die But I’m the one who paid for it I survived, but I paid for it." It may not be as extreme as the revenge that Burr dealt with, but we think that taking revenge will help us get our anger out, but instead it feeds it.
2. We are all flawed.
In Hamilton's America, Lin-Manuel talks about how all of the characters have their faults. It's that reminder that even though we see the greatest accomplishments and sacrifices of these great Americans, we also see that they are all imperfect. This fact of Hamilton reminds us that while we are imperfect, there is someone who is blameless.
3. Tomorrow isn't guaranteed.
"You have no control Who lives Who dies Who tells your story." People die sooner than we (and they) wish; tomorrow is not guaranteed. May we enjoy everyday on earth and know that while we do not know how many days we have, He has known since before we were born.
4. We can go from nothing to something.
"When America sings for you Will they know what you overcame? Will they know you rewrote the game? The world will never be the same." Hamilton came from nothing and now we read about him and study his life, we are even obsessed with a musical about him. He came from nothing and became something. Jesus does this same thing to us. We are nothing apart from us, then He brings us to life and uses us to be a vessel for him.
5. Forgiveness is powerful.
"There are moments that the words don’t reach There is a grace too powerful to name... Forgiveness. Can you imagine?" Eliza forgives Alexander after all of the awful things that he put her through. She gets over her built up anger and goes on to do great things for him and because of him. We are forgiven when we do not deserve anything. We go from being blamed to being seen as righteous. Forgiveness like this, it's almost too much to imagine.
