The Last Sin Eater

I was twelve years old and home alone, with no business watching what I was watching on TV. Only this morning did I finally discover it was probably Night Gallery, Season 2, Episode 21 called The Sins of the Fathers. For all the decades since, all I could remember was this:

A corpse is laid out on a table, an abundance of food surrounding it. The house is empty of the living. The background music is designed to spook the viewer. A half-mad man, whom I can only fathom must be starving, enters and gobbles the food like an animal. Then he runs away, carrying as much of the food with him as he can.

I wanted to turn it off but was afraid to get any closer to the television. Remote controls were still in the future.

The show haunted me for years. Had I actually seen such a thing or had I dreamed it? What was that about? What was the name of the movie? If I could find it and watch it again as an adult, would it make sense?

Years later, I would finally find a partial answer.

At the age of 39, I received a lovely Mother’s Day gift: a copy of Francine Rivers’ book, The Last Sin Eater. My kids knew only that I liked the author and nothing about the story or my history related to it.

The book could not have been a better gift.

Because of Rivers’ novel, a light bulb came on for me. Her story takes place in America’s Great Smoky Mountains in the 1850’s. A tradition has been carried over by immigrants from England, Scotland, and Wales. The “sin-eater” was paid a fee or given food to take upon himself the moral trespasses of the deceased and their consequences in the afterlife. Basically, he sold his soul to free the soul of the departed.

Although abundant information about this custom is now easily accessed on the internet, I had no such resource at the time. The 1926 book Funeral Customs by Bertram S. Puckle mentions the sin-eater:

“Abhorred by the superstitious villagers as a thing unclean, the sin-eater cut himself off from all social interaction and lived alone in a remote place. Those who chanced to meet him avoided him as they would a leper. Only when a death took place did they seek him out. When his purpose was accomplished, they burned the wooden bowl and platter from which he’d eaten the food placed on the corpse for his consumption.”

What poor desperate soul would volunteer for this?

Rivers’ novel (later made into a movie) introduces us to such a person. In her story, the sin-eater and a curious young girl are both led on a journey of discovery, suffering, and redemption.

Unlike some, I don’t enjoy being frightened out of my skin. You couldn’t pay me to watch horror movies, visit haunted houses, or listen to ghost stories. I figure life can be frightening enough as is.

Perhaps that’s why scripture tells us over and over to “fear not.” While some say it appears in the Bible 365 times—once for every day of the year—others say that isn’t true unless you’re exceptionally generous with interpretations. Regardless, all agree it’s the most often repeated exhortation in scripture. Could it be because fear is the opposite of faith, and faith is the first response God wants to see in us? 

Traditions like the sin-eater feel desperately sad unless they point us to the only one who actually did take our sin upon himself and can truly set us free: Jesus Christ. The last sin-eater.

Fear not.

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!

As a little girl, I received a 45-rpm vinyl recording from the soundtrack of the new Walt Disney movie, Mary Poppins. On one side were the voices of Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke singing Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious! which I loved. On the flip side was Feed the Birds, which I did not.

I would not see the movie until about fifteen years later, but I could still sing along with the theme song. I think I might remember all the lyrics to this day, along with Van Dyke’s famously horrible Cockney accent.

You might think the 1964 movie was the “original” version of Mary Poppins. Not so! The story’s author, P. L. Travers (the P.L. stands for Pamela Lyndon – her birth name was Helen Lyndon Goff), wrote Mary Poppins as a short story first. She based it on tales concocted to amuse her sisters in their youth. It released as a novel in 1934 and its success prompted Walt Disney (his own daughters loved the book and its sequels) to approach Travers about film rights. It took him twenty years to convince her, but in 1964, the version you and I know best came to the big screen.

Travers was not impressed, nor did she ever warm to Walt Disney. Following the premiere, she reportedly told Disney the animated portions simply had to go. His reply? “That ship has sailed.”

Years later, Travers told a reporter, “I’ve seen it once or twice, and I’ve learned to live with it. It’s glamorous and it’s a good film on its own level, but I don't think it is very like my books.” Of course, the film also made her a lot of money. Travers died at the age of ninety-six in 1996.

In 2004, the story was turned into a stage musical which stays truer to the books and included many of the songs from Disney’s movie. Downton Abbey fans will recognize the name of one of its writers, Juliann Fellowes.

A 2013 movie called Saving Mr. Banks depicts the making of the film and the quarrels between Disney and Travers (played by Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson). Last year, Disney released the movie Mary Poppins Returns, starring Emily Blunt in the title role.

Why am I telling you all this? Because our own Prairie Players are bringing Mary Poppins to the Glesby Centre stage next month and you do not want to miss it! 2019 is the group’s fiftieth anniversary, and this tremendously ambitious production celebrates that milestone. Also! If you attend Wednesday or Thursday and were born in 1969, you’ll get to put your name in a draw for a fabulous door prize!

Ryle Ann Steeden plays the title role. (If that name sounds familiar, it should. Steeden won double awards at the 2018 Manitoba Country Voice competition, taking both People’s Choice and Judges’ awards). The cast also includes Jonah Hordeski, Avery Griffith, Laurel Giesbrecht, Rhea Goertzen, Dale Finney, Brendan Giesbrecht, Paige Griffin, Iris Jones, Jocelyn Lequier-Jobin, Jon Jonasson, Rachael Clarke, Mike Hoekstra, Vernon Vickruck, Terry Tully, Andrew Giesbrecht, Gord Holm , Rosa Albanese Rawlings, Judi Hoekstra, Kim Rauscher, Sharon Vickruck, Haley L’Heureux, Olivia Sokolosky, Margaret Bernhardt-Lowdon, and Brooklyn Delorme. Nearly all of these are also in the ensemble, in addition to Pat MacRae, Cassie Britton, and director Stephanie Kauffman. Timothy Holm is the pianist and Rita Carignan the producer.

Jonah Hordeski & Ryle Ann Steeden

 

A cast this large means lots of fans to fill the seats, so get your ticket soon. Show dates are as follows.

For the play only: November 20 and 21, 2019. Doors open at 7 with show at 7:30. Tickets cost $15.00 each, available at the Glesby Centre Box Office, 204-239-4848, or online.

Dinner Theatre – November 22 and 23, 2019. Doors open at 5:30 with Cocktails at 6, dinner at 6:30 and show at 7:30. Tickets are $50, available at the Box Office.

 

Since this is the stage version, some of the characters and some of the songs might seem new to you if you’re only familiar with the movie. But don’t worry. If you say it loud enough, you’ll always sound precocious.