For a lot of people, myself included, the sum total of what they knew about Alexander Hamilton was that he was the face on the ten-dollar bill. That is until his life as one of America’s Founding Fathers, and the first U.S. Treasury Secretary, was made into a Tony Award-winning musical called Hamilton, that many people who’ve seen it call a religious experience. Written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, who also stars as Hamilton, it is a rap and hip-hop retelling of Hamilton’s legacy as one of the architects of the U.S. Constitution; his beginnings as a poor orphan in the Caribbean, to his meteoric rise to political power; his nearly equally fast plunge to political pariah and his tragic untimely death in a duel with a political rival. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Kansas Pastor Kevin Cloud talks about the ‘religious experience’ audiences are feeling watching the show. He was so moved by its spiritual power of grace, forgiveness and mercy that he wrote a book about it called, “God And Hamilton: Spiritual Themes From the Life of Alexander Hamilton and the Broadway Musical He Inspired.” For five years Hamilton has been the hottest ticket on Broadway. It’s been sold out for months even before the COVID-19 pandemic forced the lights to go dark on the Great White Way. However, just in time for the Fourth of July, Disney will stream the show on July 3rd with the original cast. Listen to the podcast, then watch the show. Happy Birthday America!
