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The power of a psalm
I love the Psalms . My mother used to say the 23rd Psalm with me every night before I went to sleep. And my grandmother asked me to memorize the 91st Psalm and go over it whenever I traveled in an airplane.
One time, I was in an improvisational acting class in Seattle when Lilia!—a show about my grandmother—was first being developed. The teacher said, "I want to see how Lilia would behave in a crisis situation." He asked me to play my grandmother, and the other actors to play guests at a party in her apartment. He set the scene: There was a fire in the building and everyone was trapped.
Immediately the actors playing the guests leaped into action—they began to panic, afraid we would all die. Playing my grandmother, I had no choice but to be true to who she was. Speaking above the chaos, in my grandmother's rich Austrian accent, I commanded everyone to be still. They stopped in their tracks, having expected her to share their desperation.
Enjoy 1 free Sentinel article or audio program each month, including content from 1898 to today.
About the author
Libby Skala is an actress, who has performed in many cities across the United States and Canada, and at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
July 14, 2003 issue
View Issue-
Family and fatherhood, lost and found
Warren Bolon
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letters
with contributions from Dorothy John Davis, Katherine M. Ivy Ellis, David A. Cornell, Patricia Drysdale
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items of interest
with contributions from John Mark Eberhart, Bill Lodge, David Hammer, Scott Hannaford
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faith in the family
with contributions from Maranatha Ruggeri Millani, Audrey Sentinella, By Anti Allikas, Theresia Nsangli-nange
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A golfer who prays
By Kim Shippey Senior Writer
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Your prayer makes a difference in the world
By Linda Hitt
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The power of a psalm
By Libby Skala
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Antwone Fisher—healing the past in film and in print
By Shelly Angel
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The ever-enlarging family
By Dave Hohle
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Basketball injury quickly healed
Francesca Karpel with contributions from Ethan Karpel
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Prayer enlarges our vision
Judith Mojon
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Sports—wrong versus right
Editor