This worship video for this service is also available on the Fox Valley Presbyterian Church YouTube channel.
One of the defining features of The Wizard of Oz, the movie from which we’re drawing illustrations of the spiritual journey this Lent, is the switch from sepia toned story-telling to the brightly colored scenes that takes place as Dorothy walks out of her farmhouse, displaced from Kansas, into the magical garden of the Munchkinland town square. Gone are the monochromatic brown tones, and our movie and TV screens are flooded with all kinds of color – from the yellow road, to the green leaves, to blue skies and multi-colored flowers.
(One thing a few folks have pointed out to me is that if your viewing of The Wizard of Oz started with the TV screenings anytime between the 1950s and maybe mid-1980s, you may have never known about this switch. I grew up with mostly color TVs, but those who only had black and white sets missed this transition that the earliest audiences saw in the theater and later audiences could see at home. That had not occurred to me before!)
After she walks through the garden a bit, wondering if she’s in Kansas still or maybe over the rainbow, an iridescent pink bubble begins to float onto the scene. Appearing larger as it descends to the ground, eventually it dissipates and reveals Glinda, the Witch of the North, standing before Dorothy. Wearing a puffy pink ball gown, covered in tulle studded with crystals and sequins, poofy sleeves, and long satin gloves, atop her head a sparkly crown, about a foot tall and in her hand is a glittery star-topped scepter, she offers the first words spoken to Dorothy in Oz.
“Are you a good witch or a bad witch?”
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