Download “In the World” for September 21, 2025, here.
REDISCOVERING A LOST MUSICAL
This month, the world learned that the late David Bowie, pioneering rock musician, had been writing a musical for the stage right up until his death in 2016. The unfinished play, The Spectator, was set in eighteenth-century London against a backdrop of political unrest and crime. Most of Bowie’s plot ideas came from detailed articles about social life from a daily periodical, also called The Spectator, which ran in the early 1700s. “Right at the very beginning,” Bowie said in 2002, “I really wanted to write for theatre.” Bowie’s notes about the musical had been locked in his study and discovered only after his death. Those artifacts join nearly ninety thousand other items from his archive, which have become the property of the Victoria & Albert East Museum in London. Their David Bowie exhibit opened on September 13.
REDISCOVERING THE BOOK OF THE LAW
Josiah became king of Judah (the southern kingdom) at the age of eight. His heart was inclined toward the Lord, and he worked to cleanse the kingdom from the idolatry established by his father. His efforts were greatly amplified by the discovery (or, actually, a rediscovery) of the book of the Law in the temple of Jerusalem. It had been lost and forgotten, and the people were not living according to God’s instructions. Josiah tore his clothes and cried out in repentance to the Lord, who was pleased with the young king’s responsive heart and held back any exile until after Josiah’s death.
- We might not have expected David Bowie to write a historical musical. What’s the most surprising thing someone you know of has produced?
- When have you encountered people who didn’t know the right way to live?
- What was it about Josiah’s reaction to the book of the Law that pleased God so much?
Additional Resources
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