VIII. Epistle: “The Word of the Lord”

Lyrics

[CELEBRANT, spoken] Brothers This is the gospel I preach And in its service I have suffered hardship like a criminal Yea, even unto imprisonment But there is no imprisoning the word of God [MAN 1, spoken] Dearly Beloved Do not be surprised if the world hates you We who love our brothers have crossed over to life But they who do not love abide in death Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer [MAN 2, spoken] Dear Mom and Dad Nothing will makе me change my mind Do not feel badly or worry about me Try to undеrstand I am now a man [CELEBRANT] You can lock up the bold men Go and lock up your bold men and hold men in tow You can stifle all adventure for a century or so Smother hope before it's risen Watch it wizen like a gourd But you cannot imprison The word of the Lord [CELEBRANT & STREET CHORUS] No, you cannot imprison the word of the Lord [CELEBRANT] For the word For the word was at the birth of the beginning It made the heavens and the earth and set them spinning And for several million years It's endured all our forums and fine ideas It's been rough It's been rough but it appears to be winning! There are people who doubt it There are people who doubt it and shout it out loud There are local vocal yokels who we know collect a crowd They can fashion a rebuttal That's as subtle as a sword But they're never gonna scuttle The word of the Lord [CELEBRANT & STREET CHORUS] No, they're never gonna scuttle the word of the Lord [MAN 3, spoken] Dear Brothers I think that God has made us apostles The most abject of mankind We hunger and thirst We are naked, we are roughly handled And we have no fixed abode They curse us and we bless They persecute us and we suffer it They treat us as the scum of the earth The dregs of humanity To this very day [YOUNG WOMAN, spoken] Dear folks Jim looked very well on my first visit With his head clean-shaven He looked about nineteen years old He says the prison food is very good, cafeteria-style For the first few days he's not allowed any books Except his Bible and his breviary We sat and talked about our marriage And about how we would grow through this When I hugged him he smelled so good A smell of clean, plain soap He smelled like a nun Or like a child when you put him to bed [CELEBRANT] All you big men of merit All you big men of merit who ferret out flaws You rely on our compliance with your science and your laws Find a freedom to demolish While you polish some award But you cannot abolish The word of the Lord [CELEBRANT & STREET CHORUS] No, you cannot abolish the word of the Lord [CELEBRANT] For the word For the word created mud and got it going It filled our empty brains with blood and set it flowing And for thousands of regimes It's endured all our follies and fancy schemes It's been tough It's been tough, and yet it seems to be growing Oh, you people of power Oh, you people of power, your hour is now You may plan to rule forever but you never do somehow! So we wait in silent treason until reason is restored And we wait for the season of the word of the Lord We await the season of the word of the Lord We wait We wait for the word of the Lord