THE MUSICALS The Reckoning of Eden tells the overarching story of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, the story of the struggle between Good and Evil for the fate of humanity. The main characters in this musical are The pre-incarnate Son, who becomes Jesus in act II and Lucifer, both male roles. Large secondary roles for the men include Adam and Peter. The female roles include Michael the Archangel, Eve, and Mary Magdalene. The first song on this album, My Father’s Son, comes near the beginning of act II in The Reckoning of Eden, and we see Jesus as a man for the first time. He is in his carpentry shop, and he is ready for a more meaningful task. At Pentecost is the only song on this album that is not from a musical. It was written for the people of Greystone Methodist Church, in N. Providence, RI and is performed by Sophonie LaFortune. The Song of Hosea is a modern telling of the biblical account of the prophet Hosea. It is modernized to help the situations be more relatable to a modern audience and to tie it to our culture’s continuing issue of prostitution and human trafficking. Due to the themes of this musical, parental guidance is advised, however, this is simply the raw, unedited Gospel message as God chose to present it. I would encourage parents to discuss it with their children rather than keep them from it. A Life that Matters occurs early in act I. It is the moment where God calls Hosea to marry Gomer, a prostitute. The character of El Shaddai, God, sings with Hosea in this duet. This song features Alan Bailey as Hosea and internationally renowned Latin music star Domenic Marte as El Shaddai. Never Expected to Feel Like This is a duet that takes place just after Hosea and Gomer meet for the first time. Their encounter doesn’t go quite like Hosea imagined it would, but it goes beyond either of their expectations. Gomer was especially thrown off balance when Hosea sings a song that she has known from her childhood. This song features Alan Bailey as Hosea and Michelle Renée Haskell as Gomer. In Hosea’s Cry, we finally get to see Hosea’s raw humanity, his pain, his anger. Gomer has cheated on him, has given birth to a child who is not his, and has now walked out on him. Hosea sings to his wife who is no longer there before turning his frustrations on his God. After Hosea buys Gomer back, she expects restrictions and condemnation; she expects to be shackled to him as a slave. But what she gets is kindness, tenderness, and an offer to come with him or not. After Hosea leaves, Gomer realizes that he meant what he said. She realizes that she is completely unworthy of his love and longs to be innocent again, for him and for her, as she sings I Want to Be Eve. This song is performed by Michelle Renée Haskell. Esther: The Musical is a fun-filled and light-hearted telling of the historical account found in the Book of Esther. A group of teenagers gather to celebrate Purim, a Jewish festival commemorating the events of the Book of Esther that manages to encompass the innocent excitement of Halloween, the party atmosphere of New Year’s, and the stalwart patriotism of the 4th of July. But when it comes time to do the reading of the story, the tables are turned on these costumed teenagers as they find themselves in the midst of the story itself and learn not only why they celebrate Purim but also what a hero is truly made of. If I Perish is in the heart of the action of act II and is the most iconic scene and includes the most oft quoted line from the biblical text. Esther, Queen of Persia, encounters Mordecai, her uncle and former guardian, who has uncovered a plot to kill the Jews. Esther is in a precarious position, for if she goes to petition the king without being sent for, he could order her death, but if she does nothing, all of her people will die. This song features Alan Bailey as Mordecai and Miriam Araujo as Esther. This iconic scene from the Esther narrative provides us with the origins of the phrase “turn the tables,” Esther finally tells the king her request and exposes Haman’s plot to kill the Jewish people, her people. Up until this time she had hidden her Jewish ethnicity, and Haman had no idea. After the king storms out, Esther goes head-to-head with Haman in The Confrontation. This song features Alan Bailey as Haman, Miriam Araujo as Esther, and Thomas A. Correa as King Artaxerxes. Fisher of Men follows the life of the apostle Peter from before he crosses paths with Jesus through his trial before the Sanhedrin. We see his fears, his failures, and ultimately his faith as he learns how God accomplishes his aims in spite of our weaknesses. Jesus calls Peter to be an apostle during act I in the song Follow Me. Peter has been fishing all night and has caught nothing, but when the incarnate God steps into his boat, his life is irrevocably changed beyond just a miraculous catch of fish. This song features Alan Bailey as Jesus and Jalen Williams as Peter. Having denied Jesus three times, Peter deals with the weight of those words during act II in I Don’t Know Him. Elsewhere, Peter’s wife, Mira, and the High Priest’s Servant, Malchus, deal with their own questions and fears surrounding Peter and Jesus. This song features Alan Bailey as Peter, Sophonie LaFortune as Mira, and Thomas A. Correa as Malchus. Paradise Lost is a one-act, 45 minute, version of The Reckoning of Eden. Paradise Lost focuses on the Fall of Man and the Fall of Lucifer and concludes with the Incarnation whereas The Reckoning of Eden continues with the story. Most of the songs from Paradise Lost are also in the first act of The Reckoning of Eden. Why Can’t I See You? is a duet between Lucifer and Adam that takes place after the Fall of Man in both musicals. Adam and Lucifer have both just been on the receiving end of God’s judgment, but they deal with it in completely different ways, Adam with repentance, Lucifer with anger and bitterness. This song features Alan Bailey as Lucifer and Daniel Fuoco as Adam. 30 Years is the opening of act II in The Reckoning of Eden. It has been 30 years since the Son came to earth with the Incarnation, but Lucifer has been unable to find Him to kill him. As he rages, we see that Lucifer’s power has grown immensely since the Fall and earth is his domain now. LYRICS My Father's Son Jesus: Here I am again/Stuck in this shop for good/Feeling, knowing that there’s more for me/Than a synagogue for wood/Now I know that you know I feel this way/But it feels good to share/Father hear my prayer/Ever since my father died/I’ve stood in his place/And I don’t mind that I’ve been used as a familial “A” brace/But day after day of measure and cut/And smoothing each errant edge/Seems to be a bit of a waste of my holy parentage/What is it I accomplish?/What is it I get done?/Is this all it means to be my Father’s son?/This bedpost needs some mending/So does this broken chair/But not as much as your broken people dying from despair/So here I wait in this purgatory/And I shape this wood again/But when I shape this wood I long to shape the hearts of men/But it’s hard to shape the hearts of men/When you’re preaching to no one/I just want the chance to be my Father’s son/Father speak to me/Let Your Spirit come to me/Release me from my family/Release me to ministry/Yes, Lord. Yes, I will move on/Go to the wilderness. Seek out John/There I will go to be baptized/I’ll be baptized as Your Spirit empowers me/To preach the good news to the poor/And I’ll do your work and miracles like nobody has before/I although I don’t understand it yet/Still I will say, Thy will be done/The world will know/And the world will say/The world will see that I’m my Father’s son! At Pentecost One day in the restless city of Jerusalem/A group of men and women huddled ‘round as they hid/In a room above a home/From the mighty power of Rome/Where they desperately cried out/And a prayer erased their doubt/For God would send the One who they couldn’t do without/Then the Spirit came down/With Tongues of holy fire/The Spirit who raised Christ from the dead/And leads the wandering through the mire/The Spirit who empowers, heals, and calls out to the lost/Came down at Pentecost/Who is this Holy Spirit who quickens mortal men/Who brings our stony hearts to life and writes His law in them?/He’s the fullness of God/Of His majesty stand awed/Christ’s sacrifice He sends/And so God decides again/To make His home with men but dwell within/And the Spirit came down/And washed across the earth/He healed the cripple at the gate/And helped Peter find his worth/The Spirit who empowers, heals, and calls out to the lost/Came down at Pentecost/How I wish each day /I could see Jesus Christ, my Lord/But He said better that He go/So that the Spirit could be poured on all mankind/So the Spirit came down/Just as Christ foretold/The One who guides us into Truth/And transforms weak men into bold/The Spirit who empowers, heals, and calls out to the lost/Came down at Pentecost/He came down with fire and power and glory at Pentecost A Life That Matters El Shaddai: Go take for yourself an unfaithful wife/For the land is guilty of adultery/In departing from the Lord // Hosea: A voice from beyond speaks to my heart/Thundering softly, as it imparts/A task so clear, but I’m not inclined/It’s not exactly what I had in mind/I want to live a life that matters/I want to speak his word/I want to see his power/I don’t see how I would be aided/By humiliation every hour/My people souls cry from the prison/Made for them inside their minds/I hold the key to their salvation/With you I can break the ties that bind/Don’t saddle me with these petty assignments/Don’t weigh me down with a meaningless task/Let me be Your right hand, Your steward, Your point man/Give me the big stuff; that’s all that I ask/I want to live a life that matters/A life that changes all the rules/I’ll bring your message to the nation/Just don’t make me play the fool // El Shaddai: Hosea, you wanted to live a life of honor and purpose, so I give you a wife/If you want the world to stop and listen to you/You must live a life worth listening to/A love song/Will you be a love song?/Bring her back where she belongs/With our love song/A love song/Will you sing our love song?/Sing it to her loud and long/Our love song // Hosea: I want to live // El Shaddai: A love song // Hosea: I want to live // El Shaddai: A love song // Hosea: I want to live a life that matters/A life that still speaks when I’m dead/ He told me I must be remembered for how I loved not what I said/I want to live // El Shaddai: A love song // Hosea: I want to live // El Shaddai: A love song // Both: To save the world I’ll live God’s love. Never Expected To Feel Like This Gomer: A memory from long ago/Where did it come from? How could he know?/It brings up all these feelings inside/I spent all my life trying to hide from/I thought I was cold. I thought I knew so much/But then he violates me without a touch/Who does he think that he is? He’s just one more guy/It shouldn’t be this hard, but I/Never expected to feel like this/A mix of hope and emptiness/Hope’s a feeling I can’t afford/Deadlier than any sword/Please no more // Hosea: Lord, You told me to take a wife/I would have chosen another life/I’m thankful now that you could foresee/That this was more than I thought it would be/I thought I was strong. I thought I knew your plan/But she makes me aware that I’m just a man/Desire’s rage I can’t deny/I don’t know what to do because I/Never expected to feel like this/More aware of my loneliness/Stirring as I walked through the door/I didn’t know it was there before / / Both: I never expected to feel like this/Afraid but unable to resist/Every moment was an all out war/Now it’s all that I’m longing for/I just want more // Gomer: And though everything in me is screaming to run/Something tells me to stand by //Hosea: If I hedge just one step I’ll be overcome // Both: Because I/Never expected to feel like this/Longing but scared of uncertainness/I wonder just what I’m in for/From just one knock at the door. Hosea's Cry Hosea: Please stay/Don’t run after the girl you knew/Don’t go away/She doesn’t have to have a hold on you/You’re free/At least that’s what you could have been/Out from under every sin/But instead you rush back in/She’s gone/Just like she said she’d be/You were wrong/I knew she’d never stay with me/Oh Lord/Don’t you know I’m just a man?/I told You before this began/You needed a different plan/Why did You let me love her?/More fool than any other/What kind of man can love like this?/You think the world will listen to a man whose wife has left him?/What kind of man is betrayed by a kiss?/God, show me where I need to go from here/This love grows, although her actions make it clear/She wants to rip our marriage vows apart/She didn’t want me from the start./How much love can I impart?/Oh Lord, please fill my heart! I Want To Be Eve Gomer: She’s untouched, undefiled/Innocent just like a child/The darkness has left them alone/Adam is all she’s ever known/And their love’s so pure I wonder how it can be true/And he doesn’t have to be ashamed of the things she used to do/I want to be Eve for you/Cleaner than the morning dew/Whiter than mid-winter snow/That’s who I’d be, but no/She’s the one who’s worthy of you, so perfect and reserved/Just walk away; she’s out there waiting. She’s what you deserve/I want to be Eve/My past behind, my past ahead/If looks could kill, then I’d be dead/Harlot, tramp, slut, whore/I hear those words from every door/And it hurts, but I try not to care because I agree/And their words won’t ever match the truth of the filth in me/I want to be Eve for me/She’s everything I’ll never be/She doesn’t have to fight the thoughts/That turn her head and heart into knots/She doesn’t worry what women say about her or if men’s thoughts are vile/She doesn’t wonder if she’ll ever find any innocence in a smile/I want to be Eve/What I wouldn’t give for a life to live without these demons and this pain/What will it take to maybe catch a break and have clean water to wash away this stain?/Am I second rate, or is it just my fate?/How long must I wait for you to wipe my slate?/Maybe you’re not that great, or am I just too late?/I want to be Eve for me/She’s everything I’ll never be/She doesn’t have to face her fears/While waiting for You to appear/She’s not here. If I Perish Mordecai: Woe! Woe to the Jews/Whose God has not answered them/Woe! Woe to the Jews/Cry as we might nobody hears // Esther(spoken): Mordecai, stop making a scene before you get us both killed // Mordecai: You wouldn’t say such things if you knew what I know/You wouldn’t if you’d seen what I have seen/My people soon will perish if we keep the status quo/My people, includes you, I fear, my Queen/Haman is the King’s man and second in command/A position he’s elected to abuse/He received the King’s permission to effect his evil plan//The complete, utter destruction of the Jews // Esther(spoken): Madness // Mordecai: Madness? No! Madness is selling my people/Oh, for ten thousand talents of silver/While you sit here in luxury/Your people suffer in hatred and tyranny // Esther: Mordecai, I cannot do this/I am one woman. I am afraid/All is not as you see it/My marriage is a charade/I have lost the King’s favor/I have lost the King’s love/I cannot go in his presence/Even this I’m deprived of/So I surely cannot ask him for what you request/My life would be forfeit. Is that what you suggest? // Mordecai: Esther, you must be strong/Go to the King. Your people need you/Esther, you must be brave/See it through/You think you’re powerless?/You don’t see what you have/Everyone has power, but do they choose to use it?/(spoken) Esther, who would have thought our lives would work out this way. When you were taken to the harem I thought, why had God forgotten us? When you were made queen I was angry because you should have been a Jewish man’s wife. But you are the only one who can save our people now/What was once hidden, now I see/The now uncovered mystery/Our lives, though hard to understand/Are guided by God’s sovereign Hand/Perhaps you have come to the Kingdom for such a time as this/To this city, to this people for such a time as this/Perhaps you have come // Esther: Perhaps I have come // Mordecai: Perhaps you have come // Esther: Perhaps I have come // Mordecai: Perhaps you have come to the kingdom // Both: For such a time as this/What was once hidden, now I see/The now uncovered mystery/Our lives, though hard to understand/Are guided by God’s sovereign Hand/What was once hidden, now I see/The now uncovered mystery/Our lives, though hard to understand/Are guided by God’s sovereign Hand // Esther: Mordecai, go to our people; tell them to pray/My maids and I will fast as well/In three days time I will go to the King/And we will see what God has planned/If I perish, then I perish/But I will not sit idly by/I will take action, and trust in his goodness/Oh, Lord hear our cry/But, I won’t sit and wait to hear from above/For Your way, Your path is clear/It would not be right to sit and wait and hope/For you to interfere/You put me here/If I perish, then I perish/But I will not sit idly by/So, I will go before the King/And if I die/Oh, if I die/Lord, if I die, I die. The Confrontation Esther: O King, if I have found favor in your sight/And if it pleases you I might/Ask that you would hear my plea /And answer my request/For we have be sold/I and my people/Told your time is at an end/We are to be killed/Wiped out, led to slaughter/We’re to be left with nothing /And no one to defend/O King if we were to just be sold/As slaves I would not be so bold/As to come in to your presence/And speak on our behalf // Artaxerxes: O my Queen who is this man?/Who would dare this evil plan?/Where is he that I might show him/The error of his ways? // Esther: It is this Haman/He has tried to kill us/It is this Haman/He’s the one to blame/It is this Haman/He does not deny it/It is this Haman/I cannot bear that name // Artaxerxes: Haman // Haman: I did not know that you were Jewish/Please you must believe me/I would never dream of harming Your Highness/It’s a misunderstanding/It’s just a big confusion/It’s just that I thought… well, I thought that… // Esther: You thought what?/You thought that we were dangerous/You thought you’d get your vengeance/You thought that you could simply kill God’s chosen people/You thought it was too easy/You thought you’d won your victory/I think you’re about to find out just how dangerous we can be // Haman: My Queen, I curse the day that I believed this lie/But I know that there must be some way/To prove to you I don’t deserve your fury and your wrath/Just tell me what it is that I can say/I will give my wealth/I will give my treasure/Everything I own/I give it all to you/Is that not enough to satisfy your anger?/Please just name your price/Just tell me what to do // Esther: I do not want your money/I don’t want your excuses/I do not want your presence, so please go. Just leave me/I do not cast the judgment/Your life is in the King’s hand/Why don’t you go out there to see him and try your luck with him? // Haman: But the King wants blood // Esther: Who am I to stop him?/If the King wants blood then it’s blood he shall get // Haman: I don’t want to die // Esther: That is how my people feel/The tables have been turned/It’s your turn to sweat // Haman: Let him take my sons and my wife/I have ten of them just spare my life // Esther: Sell your family off? That is your plan/You disgust me you small, wretched man // Haman: No please // Esther: Get off of me // Haman: I’ll do any thing // Esther: Just let me be // Haman: Truly, my Queen, I am yours to command // Esther: Please somebody take him in hand // Artaxerxes: Will he even assault the Queen in my presence? // Haman: No! Follow Me Jesus: Follow me/Follow me/Let me show you how we will begin/Follow me/Follow me/And I’ll make you a Fisher of Men/There’s a world out there beyond your nets/A world of already, but not yet/A place where evil cannot win/Where men are not dead in their sin/Follow me/(spoken)Come on/Follow me/Follow me/And I’ll show you the true man within/Follow me/Follow me/And I’ll make you a Fisher of Men/You’ve had some practice catching fish/And you are rather proficient-ish/But I’ll show you what your fishing’s worth/When your ocean is the whole earth/Simon, just follow me // Peter: Follow me // Both: To a world not of if, but when/Follow me/Follow me/And I’ll make you a Fisher of Men // Peter: Follow me/He said follow me/And then He said it again // Both: Follow me/Follow me/And I’ll make you a Fisher of Men/Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see their God/A lamp that tries to hide its light is nothing if not flawed/The law is not abolished, but in him it is fulfilled/We will be hated for his name, persecuted, killed/But we will love/Follow me // Peter: He said // Both: Follow me/And what a catch we’ll bring in // Jesus: When I make you // Peter: When I make you // Both: A Fisher of Men/Fisher of Men/Fisher of Men! I Don't Know Him Peter: Somehow he knew, somehow he saw/My worthless flesh, my fatal flaw/I didn’t see. I thought I was strong/But He told me He told me/And I told him that He was wrong/I see who He is. I saw what He did/Shouldn’t that change the way that I live?/I see what I am, and I see what I’m not/I haven’t changed as much as they thought/They saw me as Peter, the rock of the Lord/If I made small mistakes, they could just be ignored/Someone to look up to or even admire/Who’d be that rock of strength that would inspire/Why can’t I be the man they think that I am/Why can’t I be strong, strong enough to stand/But the twelve became ten/I’m no longer numbered among them/No grace for this disgrace/I’m not worthy of my place/Now they know/Now they see/All the weakness that’s in me/Let me die/I don’t care/It’s this shame I cannot bear/I don’t know him/I don’t know him/I don’t know him. I don’t know him/Those words still sear my soul/I don’t know Him. I don’t know Him/My betrayal burns me cold/I don’t know Him // Mira: He loves me in spite of the things that I’ve done/He charges in close when I want him to run/He won’t give up when I push him away/How has he become the man he is today? // Malchus: Who is this Jesus and what has he done?/He stayed to be caught when he could have run/He stopped Simon from killing me at his arrest/But what happened next is hardest to digest // Mira: He has become the man I hoped he would be // Malchus: After Simon struck me down, he fixed his eyes on me // Mira: Who is this man who has changed my husband? // Malchus: Who is this man who heals me by touching my head? // Mira & Malchus: Does he know of my sin?/Or how much I’ve hated him?/Did he hear what I said about how I want him dead?/I don’t know him/I don’t know him/I don’t know him. I don’t know him/What’s this Jesus all about?/I don’t know him. I don’t know him/He’s changed my life without a doubt // Peter: Thirty pieces of silver were enough that Judas sold out/But Judas’s thirty are more than what I got without a doubt/I got my life and it’s worthless/Worthless is your name // All: After all he’s done after all I did/How could I ask him to forgive?/The curse of guilt the weight of shame/Scream worthless is your name // Peter: So the twelve became ten/I’m no longer numbered among them // Mira: Where’s his love coming from? // Malchus: Could he be the Promised One? // All: Look at him/Look at me/I can’t seem to see/What is true, what is real/But I know what I feel // Peter: After all he’s done after all I did/ How could I ask him to forgive?/The curse of guilt, the weight of shame/Scream worthless is your name // Mira: I don’t know him/I don’t know him/I don’t know him/I don’t know him // Malchus: I don’t know him. I don’t know him/This man confounds my soul/ I don’t know him. I don’t know him/Will his touch make me whole?/I don’t know him. I don’t know him/Has Messiah been revealed/I don’t know him. I don’t know him/Who else has the power to heal?// All: I don’t know him. Why Can't I See You? Adam: Every day seems darker/Every song less sweet/Every hour longer while I’m incomplete/Though I wait and hope, I find more and more/I’m not the man that I was before/But I’d give anything for just one sight/That of You and me in a garden at night/Why can’t I see You? Why can’t I hear Your voice?/Why can’t I walk with You and again rejoice/That You’re my Father, that I can rest in You?/There’s so much unspoken in that long lost view/Why can’t I see You? // Lucifer: You had me again and let me walk away/And you told me of that distant day/When all my plans would be disarmed/Well we’ll see about that now that I’ve been warned/So when the son comes down to “crush my head”/Well the joke’s on you. I’ll see him dead/Then you will feel my pain/Feel my loss/Feel the price/Feel the cost/I’m not gone/I’ll make you see/You’re a fool/And you haven’t seen the last of me // Adam: I can’t conceive it anymore. I can’t understand/That a perfect God loved a perfect man/I can’t deny it. I had it all/But I walked away. I took the Fall/Oh feel my pain/Feel my loss/Feel the price/Feel the cost/Now You’re gone/Why can’t I see You? // Lucifer: Then you will // Both: Feel my pain/Feel my loss/Feel the price/Feel the cost // Adam: Now You’re gone // Lucifer: I’ll make you see // Adam: Why can’t I see You? // Lucifer: And you haven’t seen the last of me/I’ll wait. I’ll plan/I’ll sit here in this disgusting land/Your children will turn on you // Adam: Why can’t I see You? Why can’t I hear Your voice?/Why can’t I walk with You and again rejoice/That You’re my Father, that I can rest in You?/There’s so much unspoken in that long lost view // (Adam repeats as Lucifer sings) Lucifer: Then you will feel my pain/Feel my loss/Feel the price/Feel the cost/I’m not gone/I’ll make you see/There’s so much unspoken in that long lost view // Both: [A]Why can’t I see you? ([L]You haven’t seen the last of me)/[A]Why can’t I see you? ([L]You haven’t seen the last of me)/[A]Why can’t I see you?/ [A] Father, I’m sorry! ([L] Father, you’ll be sorry!) 30 Years Lucifer: I have been waiting for you since the fall of man/I have been waiting since this world began/I have been waiting in this wretched place/For you to come to me and show your face/The wise men said that you had come/The one foretold, god’s only son/I thought our battle was imminently implied/But still I wait for you and still you hide/Thirty years of waiting/Thirty years of searching in vain/I have waited, baited, anticipated you for thirty years/The sea of humanity in which you hide/Will crumble as I rip them one by one from your side/My demons have run rampant since you left me at the helm/This is not the world you know. You’ve stepped into my realm/You were not prepared for me/You were not prepared for me/I, who command Kingdoms/I, who sow havoc and fear/If you want the Power of Hell to rain down on your head/Just speak my name, and I’ll appear/For I am the Power of Darkness/I’m the Ruler of demon spawn/Leviathan, Prince of the Power of the Air/I am the Dragon, Lord of the Dawn/And you have evaded me for far too long/Thirty years to consolidate power/Thirty years to get my men on the scene/I’ve awaited, anticipated jaded/Bated and invaded/Yes I’ve debated, fated, dictated/Updated, and desecrated/I have hated you for thirty years!