But it is the essence of the character herself that has awakened me on a number of nights wondering, how many of us live lives of similar tragedy and hopelessness?
I have listened to the song over again and am haunted by the true-life drama that it portrays for so many people.
Fantine reminds us that the world was created fundamentally GOOD -
"There was a time when men were kind,
when their voices were soft
And their words inviting."
"...the word was a song and the song was excited."
And then it went all WRONG, and lives became broken and undone just as Fantine recounts in the closing lines of the song:
"But there are dreams that cannot be
And there are storms we cannot weather
I had a dream my life would be
So different from this hell I'm living."
Perhaps Fantine and her song are so haunting because she tasted GRACE but could not fully receive it. Perhaps on some level we all have a bit of Fantine in us. I know I do.
A friend and colleague quotes John 10:10 frequently: "I have come that they may have life and have it to the full."
But elsewhere Jesus also says, "whoever wants to save his life will lose it,but whoever loses their life for me will find it." (Matthew 16:25) Perhaps the character Fantine lives and dies in the midst of these giant words of Jesus. I hope I do.
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