Act 3 Scene 2 Emma - cease to be...
Emma... ‘he is sick again...
she sings “I am going to heaven and I fear that you will cease to be..”
Similar function to ‘Goodnight my sweetheart/Lyda Rose’ from ‘The Music Man’
with Gregor Mendel and the Monks accompanying her doubts and fears with
“why the characteristics of favorable variations are not diluted back into the greater population”
Emma:
He is sick again
perhaps from something caught at sea
I love him dearly though
I wish we shared the same faith
I fear that when this life is over
My dear Charles will cease to be...
no one gets out alive
Annie
consumption
statistics and epidemiology
water treatment and sewage
Malthus
pestilence
SIN=Death
mine yours or Adam’s
Emma’s Concerns
\\
BbM/Eb
Oh Charles
Yes Dear
About our final house
I intend to go to heaven for eternity
And You, I fear
Will just cease to be…
I will always love you
But on the bigger questions we disagree
As we grow older together
And pass from this life, I fear
You will cease to be…
There is something on my mind my love
That I must discuss with you
before this life is through
Its about our future home
for you I will wait forever
which is exactly what will be
because you no longer believe our faith
you will never come to me
this I contemplate with dread
while lying in our bed
where you have given me ten lovely children
children selected by the sieve of time
even without ...
and they weren’t anymore
even without ...
and they were gone
even without our beloved Annie...
each one a universe of possibilities
selected out probabilistically by time
the pinball game of the gods
Tune - “What is Emotion” - emotion in animals and man - Charles
moral sense sympathy, memory and reflection
is it a moral sense
knowing what is right from what is wrong
is it sympathy
a fellow feeling and affinity
the sharing of our souls
or the nostalgic memories that stir our moods
and reflect a sense of longing…
argument on ‘promise of salvation’ might not be reasonably compelling
through faith “an affair of the heart, not the intellect
for now we see through a glass darkly;
but then - face to face now I know in part
burthen - shall I know even as also I am known
- falling through eternity
hope of reunion with loved ones after death is the mainstay of faith
Richard Whately “ perfection of friendship
the future happiness of the blessed”
emma was deeply afraid that she might lose him in the next world - a seance for science...
Charles has gone before... where we all go and no one not even the pharoahs have returned
“a person who went to heaven might be supposed to feel grief for the
total and final loss of some who may have been dear to him on earth”
but a wise and good man would try as far as possible -
to withdraw his thoughts from evil which he cannot lessen
the eternal suffering of former friends might
cloud his mind but in the world to come
the blest:” will occupy their minds entirely with the thought of things agreeable...
and will be able, by an effort of the will, completely to banish and exclude
every idea that might alloy their happiness”
she feared that “our opinions on the most important subject should differ widely...
honest and conscientious doubts cannot be a sin, but
I feel it would be a painful void between us.”
*************** Read Christ’s farewell in St John’s Gospel
“It is the part.. I love the best. This is a whim of mine. It would give me great pleasure.
Though I can hardly tell why.
I don’t wish you to give me your opinion about it.”
there is more to faith than fossils and barnacles
though our opinion may not agree
upon all points of religion
we may sympathize a good deal
in our feelings on the subject...
==============================================================================
I won’t believe there are only these moments ‘ 6/8briefly here our
only life time surely
we go on forever I won’t believe there are only these moments ‘ 6/8fleeting and passing so quickly
and I know in my heart
that there is so much
more than this life offers
somewhere there must be a heaven with angels
and a lord god of hosts
waiting to receive us
at the end of our dayswhere
loved ones are waiting together to welcome
us back in their lives
forever and always
with love ever lasting these questions of faith
without tangible answers
are beyond my abilities to help you
in any meaningful wayprofessions of faith
without tangible answers
are beyond my abilities to fathom
in any meaningful way it breaks my heart to think otherwise
fearful I stand on the brink of eternityonly moments ‘ chordal voices Ab major 7
standing here we dominant, augmented
fall like petals
from the tree of life==============================================================================
Charles you are getting too excited – it is time for you to rest or you will be sick again
Charles it is time for you to restTime to put your work away
Barnacles back in their boxes
Slides and microscope out of the wayDon’t want to squander your energy
Needlessly, carelessly
Please, come and listen to me…Charles you know I deeply love you
Always and forever my heart is yours
Though I wish your faith you felt the same way about faith
Were as strong as your integrityBut there is something I need to say
When you first came to me
I thought our hearts were in sympathyRegarding the greater issues in our livesDown through the passing years
I’ve learned how often
We tend to disagree
On matters of vast importance to meFaith has always comforted me
And when this life is over
I hope again to see my mother and father in heavenC: Emma my darling dearest Emma
I would not hurt you for anything in this world
But I must speak honestly
What I believe to be the truth
You know you would not have me any other way…
Thomas Scott Nelson ©
last modified
September 21, 2020