The Michael Ballam Experience

There is one experience from Education Week that I just can't get out of my head and I want to share it with others. It is Friday, the last day of classes. We (Alan, Jane, Gayle, Scott, Janice, and Kellie and I) decided we wanted to attend Michael Ballam's class on Broadway songs from 1960-1997, which we knew would include a lot of our favorite songs. The class was packed and, unfortunately, neither Janice nor Kellie could get in. Towards the end of the class, Michael was talking about the song "To Dream the Impossible Dream" from the Man of La Mancha, and how it went along with his life personally because of the fight he is involved with to keep musical theater alive in Logan in spite of the poor economy and deep budget cuts. After the dialog, he sang the song for us. Here are the Lyrics:

To dream the impossible dream

To fight the unbeatable foe

To bear with unbearable sorrow

To run where the brave dare not go

To right the unrightable wrong

To love pure and chaste from afar

To try when your arms are too weary

To reach the unreachable star
This is my quest

To follow that star

No matter how hopeless

No matter how far

To fight for the right

Without question or pause

To be willing to march into Hell

For a heavenly cause
And I know if I'll only be true

To this glorious quest

That my heart will lie peaceful and calm

When I'm laid to my rest
And the world will be better for this

That one man, scorned and covered with scars

Still strove with his last ounce of courage

To reach the unreachable star

It was an amazing performance! While Michael was singing, you could see his handicapped son who was sitting on the stage in his wheel chair wiping tears from his eyes -- a very tender moment for him, indeed. After the song, Michael asked his son, Ben, to come forward. Michael shared his love for his son and told us that some time earlier Ben had told him that he, Michael, was like the person from the song, because he was willing to fight for the right without question or pause and was willing to march into Hell for a heavenly cause in Logan and how proud he was of his Dad. Father and son embraced each other and Michael helped his son wipe away his tears, who was by then sobbing uncontrollably. I tell you, the love in that room was so strong at that moment that you could have cut it with a knife. There was not a dry eye in the room. I haven't felt anything as powerful as that in a long time. In my eyes, the travel time and expense of the trip to BYU was worth it just to experience that one class and feel the deep love of a father and son.

This whole experience really made me think about the deep love of another father and son - that of our Heavenly Father and his son Jesus Christ. The son, in this example, was the one to fight for the right without question or pause and who willingly marched into Hell for a heavenly cause and he did it all for each one of us. Oh, I'm so grateful for His love. Love can conquer anything.

This week on the BUY channel they are airing classes from Education Week. I noticed that Michael Ballam is one of the featured speakers on Wednesday. I'm hoping that it is this class that we attended because I'd like to experience it all over again. That would make my day!