Do You Hear the People Sing? (Finale)

By Nate Burns, John W. Nielson, and Doug Samples Listening to the Finale this morning has once again brought tears streaming down my face as I revel in the majestic finish to this amazing story. Not only is Valjean making … Continue reading →

Empty Chairs At Empty Tables

By John W. Nielson The song Empty Chairs at Empty Tables is one of the truly haunting songs in all of Les Miserable. Marius returns to the place where he and his companions had talked and laughed and sang and planned … Continue reading →

Javert’s Suicide

By Doug Samples Background From the opening pages of the book and the opening chords of this wonderful musical, the lives of Jean Valjean and Inspector Javert are inexplicably linked as protagonist and antagonist, good vs evil.  The irony is … Continue reading →

Hello . . . Again!

By Doug Samples Here in the middle of the summer, I thought it might be worthwhile to take a break from the blogs we have been writing about each of the songs and remind our readers the purpose of this … Continue reading →

Bring Him Home

By Nate Burns During our journey “Finding the Gospel in Les Misérables,” the theme that has been masterfully woven into the fabric of this story is self-sacrifice. Character after character, we have seen this remarkable gospel truth. As a young … Continue reading →

On My Own

By Nate Burns Growing up I was always infatuated with girls. In Kindergarten, I professed my love and undying affection for Angie Mondragon. Her pigtails and freckles sent my heart into palpitations. On Easter, I gave her a box of … Continue reading →

Stars

  By Nate Burns As we continue our pursuit of “Finding the Gospel in Les Misérables,” one of the characters central to this powerful story is Javert. Javert is a prison guard when he is first mentioned in this story. … Continue reading →

Master of the House

By John W. Nielson The song Master of the House provides some moments of comedic relief in Les Miserables. Thénardier is the innkeeper who, along with his wife, has been “caring” for young Cossette. The Thénardiers live lives full of … Continue reading →

Who Am I?

  By John W. Nielson The question of identity is important to everyone. So much of our life is framed by the struggle to truly understand who we are and why we are here. From childhood years, through the turbulent … Continue reading →

I Dreamed a Dream

By Doug Samples  Introduction What kind of childhood dreams did you have when you were growing up?  I recently asked this question to some of my friends and received over 50 great responses.  Can you find your childhood dream in … Continue reading →