ACT 2

Scene 1

SETTING: Day Two, mid day. Sharon's living room

AT RISE: Sharon is sitting, Paul pacing

PAUL

He was unclean. We must cleanse ourselves of his touch. We should have known.

SHARON

I should have known. I think back now and am ashamed to admit that there were times when I was suspicious. I guess I was always pretty anxious to believe his explanations. He liked to say he was gambling when he was out cruising his territory. I knew that wasn't true. He never lost any money.

PAUL

I have been trying to figure out the approximate day and time that I was conceived, to relate that to mileposts of his killing career.

SHARON

I haven't found the strength to study the findings yet.

PAUL

I am a bit obsessed with it.

SHARON

Don't tell me.

PAUL

All we can do is follow the commandments for ourselves,, not for anybody else. He managed to break them all while convincing us he was a god fearing Christian. At work they thought he was a fundamentalist.

SHARON

Lead us in a prayer like Hannah's, please.

PAUL

(Paul kneels. Flute music in minor

pentatonic scale plays in the

background.)

Lord, you make our hearts rejoice.

Our strength grows in You.

You hear our voices over those of our enemies,

Because we rejoice in Your salvation.

Nothing is as holy as You, Lord.

Nothing compares to You.

There is no other Rock than our Lord.

The proud will be silent now.

Arrogance will no longer come from their mouths.

Lord, you are aware of what happens here.

Lord, you must judge our actions.

The rich and powerful will be crushed.

We who have fallen will be wrapped in strength.

The rich and the beggars will trade places.

A woman who cannot conceive will have seven children.

A woman with many children will be robbed of strength.

Life beings and ends with You Lord.

You put us in the grave and raise us up.

Riches and their opposite both flow from You, Lord.

You lower and You raise.

You raise up the poor and meek, the beggars and prostitutes,

To set them among the upper classes,

And enable them to inherit Your Salvation

For the earth is sustained upon You, Lord.

Without You there is no meaning.

Preserve those who love You, Lord.

Those who do not will fade into the void.

For no man prevails by his own strength.

Lord, You shatter your enemies.

You rain thunderbolts on them.

All action is submitted to Your Judgment.

Your leaders You empower.

Your worshipers You exalt.

In the name of Christ Jesus, Lord,

Block the curse put upon this family

By Jeremiah's killing spree.

And we thank You, Lord, for finding

Us worthy of Your Love.

(Paul stands up)

A god who doesn't answer prayers is not worth having.

SHARON

Many families have waited many years. To say that having their daughter's bones is answering a prayer is hard; but it is true.

PAUL

What courage and commitment Hannah had to leave her child Samuel with Eli, for the Lord. If we only had a pale reflection of Hannah's courage and commitment.

SHARON

Worship and prayer are no doubt still pleasing to the Lord. But do you think the Lord still shatters his enemies? And raises up the poor? Is that why those women were shattered. What good came of that? Where are all the poor who have been raised up? Where are the souls of those, of his victims?

PAUL

Many contemporary Christians don't believe that the Lord continues to perform the interventions such as those that were claimed in Biblical times. But why would the Lord start doing it, and then quit?

SHARON

The Old Testament God took care of his own nasty business. He didn't have to hide it off balance sheet. Under the Devil's account.

PAUL

But without the Devil, how do you explain what Dad did?

SHARON

He was stupid. He hated women. He had no feelings. He's responsible for letting himself become a monster.

PAUL

When did it happen?

SHARON

Before he got to me. I don't know. I am sure he blames it on his mother. I don't.

PAUL

But if God can shape events here on earth?

SHARON

It doesn't say in Hannah's song that just because He shapes some things on earth, that every single that that happens is His fault.

PAUL

But isn't that sort of the logical extension?

SHARON

Who needs logical extensions? You men are so black and white. Pray Hannah's song again. Try to hear it without the black and white. Do you feel as if the curse is blocked?

PAUL

I do. I think I really do.

(BLACKOUT)

(END OF SCENE)

Scene 2

SETTING: Day Two, afternoon. Outside a memorial service for several of the recently discovered remains of previously murdered victims of Jeremiah. The mourners have already left.

AT RISE: Camera and reporter crews from two local TV stations are outside the church's door waiting for somebody related to Jeremiah to emerge. As soon as he does, they rush up to put microphones in front of his face. Jeremiah is sitting elevated at stage left.

PAUL

I don't have a prepared statement.

LISA

Is it true that you have clanged your name?

PAUL

No comment.

ALICE

Do you have anything to say to families of the victims?

PAUL

I pray for them with all my heart, and ask them likewise to pray for me.

(Paul removes a cell phone from

his pocket and turns it on.)

Let me see if I can get the person you really need to talk to on the line. Whether or not he can use the phone is up to his guards.

(Paul presses phone buttons and

talks into it.)

May I please talk to my dad? Thanks.

(Paul takes phone away from his

mouth and speaks to reporters.)

The police gave me this number so I can talk to him about giving the police more information.

(Paul speaks again into the phone,

to Jeremiah.)

I am outside a memorial service for five of the women whom you murdered, talking to a TV crew. They asked me if I have anything to say to the families, as they say, of the victims, although I don't like to use the word victim myself. I told them that I pray for them with all my heart and ask them to pray for me. It bothers me that pray with an A and prey with an E are so similar as words. If you are allowed to talk to the television reporters, would it be OK to let them see you on the phone camera?

JEREMIAH

Who are the reporters?

PAUL

There are two reporters.

JEREMIAH

Only two?

PAUL

Yes, Lisa and Alice.

JEREMIAH

Show their faces on your phone's camera.

(Paul aims camera in phone on each

reporter in turn.)

PAUL

Can you see them?

JEREMIAH

I can talk to them,

(Jeremiah takes phone from ear to listen to guard give orders and then resumes talking into phone.)

... for only ten minutes, because my guards will take the phone back then. Let me try to answer the same question that the reporters asked you.

(Jeremiah stands)

Obviously I know I am a monster. I've known that since my first killing. And yet I hid it as best I could, rather than turning myself in. As much as I lack a conscience and remorse, since I have been caught, I would have already killed myself except that I am under 24 hour observation. I have been prevented from doing that. And just killing myself, would have also been selfish. That would leave a lot of people wondering about their missing loved ones. I can't specifically address the women that you honor today. I didn't keep track of what there was about them in the papers at the time. And since my arrest, I have not been allowed much access to print or TV news. The investigators try to make sure that what I tell them has come from me and not the news. I want all the families to know that any information that the investigators think will be helpful will be provided to the best of my ability. But I don't have a good memory and I didn't keep records. All I can do is cooperate now as best I can. I wish that I wasn't who I am, although at the time I wanted to be somebody. Anybody can see that this is not what any person should become. I don't want to blame anybody else. I don't know why I hate so, why I feel so little compassion, or remorse. It's like part of what makes a person a person doesn't exist in me. I know there is no amount of punishment that can make up for what I have done. Eye for an eye won't work with me. All I can do is lose my life once. All I can do is spend eternity in hell. That really is a very small consolation to anybody effected by my crimes. To those who wonder exactly what I did, my guards don't want me to go public with that yet. It would complicate their investigations. As weird as this sounds, several people are trying to confess to crimes that I committed. Maybe they killed somebody else, maybe they didn't. What I am allowed to say is only general. They only knew that they were being killed for a few seconds. They didn't see it coming. And I killed them so quickly they could hardly feel it. There was almost no suffering, not because of any compassion on my part, but because the way I did it made it easy for me. I didn't enjoy seeing them suffer. At some point I stopped having sex with them first. What I came to want, was having sex with them after I had killed them. I could possibly be an even worse monster than you had dreamed. My victims were quite possibly better people than many have assumed. Yes they were soliciting for sex at that point in time. But I was looking for a particular kind of girl. I was mostly attracted to a spark of innocence. The most special girl would be one looking to turn her very first trick. I didn't feel comfortable with the hard core pros. They would make fun of me. They would be too wary and have other people looking out for them. In short, I was looking for a girl who was ashamed of what she was doing, telling herself that after she paid that light bill she would never do it again. One of those girls was doing it to buy her estranged father a Christmas present. Another was doing it to pay a sick child's medical bill. A word or two about the children. Or better, a word or two to the children, some of whom now have children of their own, who will never know their grandmother, or know her only as a dead prostitute. I am sorry, so, so sorry. I have robbed you as surely as I robbed your mother or grandmother of her life. I wish there was some way that you could see that she was not really a prostitute, but a young woman trying to do the best she could in a very tough situation. I liked to ask them why they needed the money. In a more decent society, most of these girls would have had a better option for dealing with very, extremely challenging circumstances. What attracted me was that spark of dignity, which probably makes me even sicker. I was afraid of the ones with no dignity left. When I realized that, I would avoid them. One of the saddest things about this is you probably never realized how much they loved you. They were determined to rebuild their relationships with you if it was the last thing they did. That was a lot of what attracted me to them. Yes, I talked to them. Talked a lot, right up until killing them. What I did was that much worse than killing their bodies. I was also killing the future opportunities to rebuild the wrecks of their pasts, to reestablish that loving bond with mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, children, to be sure, with themselves. I was very conscious of killing all that potential, as I killed them. Maybe that is what I really wanted to kill. There is no way I can pay for all that I broke. Maybe in a way I will be able to repay more by living rather than dieing. You might say that the death penalty will put me in hell sooner. That's going to be for an eternity any way. A few years one way or the other don't matter much in eternity. I guess the reason that I confessed, and will continue to confess, is to repay as much as I can now, so that perhaps some of these wounds that I have caused might begin to heal. Thank you for listening. My guard is taking the phone back. I can answer no more questions today.

(BLACKOUT)

(END OF SCENE)

Scene 3

SETTING: Day Two, evening. Sharon's living room.

AT RISE: Sharon and Gina are sitting on a couch.

(Projected text: Isaiah 1:30-31 For

ye shall be as an oak whose leaf

fadeth, and as a garden that hath no

water. And the strong shall be as

tow, and the maker of it as a spark,

and they shall both burn together,

and none shall quench them.)

GINA

Why does he hide his heart from me?

SHARON

It is not my place to tell you. Have you asked him?

GINA

Yes, well, I guess I could have asked more clearly at a better time. It was in fact during an argument.

SHARON

You will have to try harder than that to make me break my promise.

GINA

I was developing my theory of evolving consciousness. Primitive man was too caught up in survival, his capacity for love was so rudimentary, that Moses was a quantum leap beyond. As far as Moses was beyond Cain, Isaiah was beyond Moses. Hunter, lawyer, prophet, savior, revived. I started getting with Paul, as if he were still solidly a hunter, unable to evolve even as far as Moses. I needed him to just keep quiet, to just hold me, while I got used to how frozen he is inside. But no, he had to - without even half listening - put my theory down without having anything else to put in its place. I had the distinct impression that all he cared about just then was sex.

(Projected text: Isaiah 2:8-9 Their

land also is full of idols; they

worship the work of their own hands,

that which their own fingers have

made. And the mean man boweth down,

and the great man humbleth himself:

therefore forgive them not.)

SHARON

There he would be following in his footsteps.

GINA

Are you interested in my theory?

SHARON

Yes, please continue explaining it. And after that, I am sure that I will have some reflections upon it.

GINA

I have been relating the scripture to five centers of power. The root center propels species survival. The belly center propels personal physical well being. Love flows through the heart center. Communication flows through the throat center. Memory, comprehension and insight are stored in the mind center.

SHARON

These centers are somewhat like the charkas?

GINA

There are five centers and usually seven charkas. Also, the centers are actually united with the physical body, not merely abstract.

SHARON

And Scripture contains revelations about these centers?

(Projected text: Isaiah 3:12 As for

my people, children are their

oppressors, and women rule over them.

O my people, they which lead thee

cause thee to err, and destroy the

way of thy paths.)

GINA

Most definitely. Many, many revelations. The early law of necessity focused on the root and belly centers. The survival of the family, and by extension the tribe. And people was not a forgone conclusion. Families, tribes and peoples being wiped out was an all too familiar occurrence. Mankind itself narrowly escaped total obliteration in the flood. People did not have the luxury of worrying exclusively about their own little ego trips. So producing offspring, and dedicating oneself to insuring that the offspring survived was job one, and was driven by center one, the root.

SHARON

Life could not be taken for granted.

(Projected text: Isaiah 5:9-10 In

mine ears said the Lord of hosts, Of

a truth many houses shall be

desolate, even great and fair,

without inhabitant. Yea, ten acres of

vineyard shall yield one bath, and

the seed of an homer shall yield an

ephah.)

GINA

Not at all. These people needed every possible advantage just to survive. As they became less nomadic, and developed modern agriculture, and somewhat stable societies, they also for the first time were enabled to divert energy to the quality of life, not the mere fact that it existed.

SHARON

In a good year food would be stored for a bad year. People had mild and wine and honey. Perhaps some free time?

GINA

Exactly. Some people more than others, could manage a good life, above and beyond scratching out a mere existence. They did not have to always worry about being attached or about starving to death. A vision of a good life began to emerge. The belly center began to absorb energy from the root center.

SHARON

And people could afford to be fastidious about what they ate, so dietary laws were established.

GINA

And also a concern with offering food as sacrifice, flesh and old and grain.

(Projected text: Isaiah 6:8-9 Also I

heard the voice of the Lord, saying,

Whom shall I send, and who will go

for us? Then said I, Here am I; send

me. And he said, Go, and tell this

people, Hear ye indeed, but

understand not; and see ye indeed,

but perceive not.)

SHARON

By 2000 B.C. primitive hunting and marauding man has evolved into a farmer. People started laying claim to land.

GINA

Suddenly it seems that a great explosion of interest in the higher centers occurs. The written word emerges to compliment the spoken word. With the advent of the written word emerges to complement the spoken word. With the advent of the written word laws become possible. Codes of conduct emerge. Commandments engraved on tablets. This is a monumental leap beyond word of mouth. The word entails a much different form of power once it is written down. It opens up the possibility of a much different type of society, one based on right rather than might.

SHARON

This must have been a very proud moment for God. At last he could speak to his people and they could remember what he said.

(Projected text: Isaiah 7:14

Therefore the Lord himself shall give

you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall

conceive, and bear a son, and shall

call his name Immanuel.)

GINA

Oh, yes. And don't forget that they could also talk back to him. Until this moment God had been alone with his creation. There was no consciousness that could really appreciate what he was doing. God was hungry for feedback.

SHARON

I think sometimes people forget that God has emotions too.

GINA

So the throat center is expanding into the communication center. The words do not always have to be physically emerging from the throat.

SHARON

Thus the Biblical emphasis on the tablets.

GINA

It is interesting that they are broken and then recreated.

(Projected text: Isaiah 8:19-20 And

when they shall say unto you, Seek

unto them that have familiar spirits,

and unto wizards that peep, and that

mutter: should not a people seek unto

their God? for the living to the

dead? To the law and to the

testimony: if they speak not

according to this word, it is because

there is no light in them.)

SHARON

It is also interesting that at first the law all came through a few men, Moses and Aaron. It was another fifteen hundred years before revelation occurred on a widespread basis.

GINA

Let's not make that jump yet. Along with the new energy, in the communication center, is new energy in the mind center. People's minds now had the ability to appreciate the awesome nature of the work in which they lived. They could appreciate what God was doing to them and understand that they owed him something back.

SHARON

They could praise, with their mouth and mind.

GINA

And that gets off to a rocky start, but a start none the less. And along with the ability to appreciate God, man also begins to appreciate the nature of evil, my theory of which I will save for another day.

(Projected text: Isaiah 9:6-7 For

unto us a child is born, unto us a

son is given: and the government

shall be upon his shoulder: and his

name shall be called Wonderful,

Counsellor, The mighty God, The

everlasting Father, The Prince of

Peace. Of the increase of his

government and peace there shall be

no end, upon the throne of David, and

upon his kingdom, to order it, and to

establish it with judgment and with

justice from henceforth even for

ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts

will perform this.)

SHARON

Before this time mankind really did not have a mind in the modern sense of the word.

GINA

The body had a brain, but the brain was not really a mind.

SHARON

Haven't we skipped the third center, the heart?

GINA

The Mosaic law is almost completely devoid of concern for love. I don't know that people were even aware of love yet. If so, they placed very minimal value on it. As far as God went, he was mostly to be respected and feared. God didn't ever really expect them to love him. All he asked was that they not worship other Gods. God seems to be jealous of other Gods.

(Projected text: Isaiah 10:22-23 For

though thy people Israel be as the

sand of the sea, yet a remnant of

them shall return: the consumption

decreed shall overflow with

righteousness. For the Lord God of

hosts shall make a consumption, even

determined, in the midst of all the

land.)

SHARON

God's jealousy has always confused me.

GINA

Some other day we could spend the entire day discussing the evolution of monotheism. But before we move on to the next phase of evolution, there is one more thing I would like to point out about the Mosaic consciousness. The root, belly, throat and mind centers blossomed individually, but within any one person they were not at all integrated. This is very obvious in the Scripture. Subject matter is structured by theme. Survival themes are presented. Well being themes are presented separately. Law themes are presented separately from worship themes. These focuses had developed but were not yet seen as a dynamic entity. It almost seems as if the people then took pains to keep them apart.

(Projected text: Isaiah 11:10-11 And

in that day there shall be a root of

Jesse, which shall stand for an

ensign of the people; to it shall the

Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be

glorious. And it shall come to pass

in that day, that the Lord shall set

his hand again the second time to

recover the remnant of his people,

which shall be left, from Assyria,

and from Egypt, and from Pathros,

and from Cush, and from Elam, and from

Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the

islands of the sea.)

SHARON

The outline of modern personality was emerging but the parts were not functioning as a whole.

GINA

Seemingly that takes another thousand years or so to develop. We know for sure that we are there by the time of David. With David we really see a different model for human consciousness. Within the person we see that the five centers are truly integrated, with energy flowing up and down linking the centers within the personality. The heart center is now blossomed. All five centers are in full power and fully related. In David's songs he give expression to all five centers in a single verse.

(Projected text: Isaiah 12:2-3

Behold, God is my salvation; I will

trust, and not be afraid: for the

Lord Jehovah is my strength and my

song; he also is become my salvation.

Therefore with joy shall ye draw

water out of the wells of salvation.)

SHARON

Instead of expounding on tribal lineage for a chapter, and food purity for a chapter, and other Gods for a chapter, David sought to give voice to the entire person all the time?

(Projected text: Isaiah 13:19-20 And

Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the

beauty of the Chaldees' excellency,

shall be as when God overthrew Sodom

and Gomorrah. It shall never be

inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt

in from generation to generation:

neither shall the Arabian pitch tent

there; neither shall the shepherds

make their fold there.)

GINA

And he did a spectacular job at it. It is almost impossible to imagine songs more beautiful than his best. In fact I was playing a recorded version of the 51st psalm for Paul when our conversation started going south.

(Projected text: Isaiah 14:20-21

Thou shalt not be joined with them in

burial, because thou hast destroyed

thy land, and slain thy people: the

seed of evildoers shall never be

renowned. repare slaughter for his

children for the iniquity of their

fathers; that they do not rise, nor

possess the land, nor fill the face

the world with cities.)

GINA

(Continuing)

I've loved the psalms since I was a little girl, even when I was backsliding, with good reason. They opened up the door to so many possibilities. David ept the centers integrated by focusing on praising God as his central reason for being. Everything came down to praise for him. It took a long time for people to understand how and why he put so much energy into praise. They would look down their noses at him as they looked out their window and saw him jumping and shouting for the Lord in the street. Today, I think that is one of the things we love most about him. But don't forget to notice how he always keeps all five centers burning bright. And he definitely has his heart center fully developed, which was never seen in earlier men of God. Too bright, some might say, although I would say it was just not love that ultimately was his flaw.

SHARON

I agree that what he felt for Bathsheba was lust, and not love at all. We both know a lot of men who have made that mistake.

GINA

The next step in the evolution perhaps does not look like such a great one. I associate it most with Jesus Christ, although there are surely flashes of it here and there hundreds of years before his birth. Between David and Jesus there is a shift in emphasis. David sought to integrate the five centers in a balance. Jesus sought to bring the other four centers under the control of the heart. He sought to deny the root and belly centers al the power traditionally allocated to them.

(Projected text: Isaiah 15:5-6 My

heart shall cry out for Moab; his

fugitives shall flee unto Zoar, an

heifer of three years old: for by the

mounting up of Luhith with weeping

shall they go it up; for in the way

of Horonaim they shall raise up a cry

of destruction. For the waters of

Nimrim shall be desolate: for the hay

is withered away, the grass faileth,

there is no green thing.)

SHARON

Perhaps Jesus saw the root and belly centers as forces not entirely positive. You can't do without them. But he did not seem to glorify or dwell upon them.

GINA

He accepted them. He did not put them down, as some of his followers have. But he did not seem to feel the need to glorify or enhance them in himself.

SHARON

And Jesus did not praise God so much by getting excited and singing as by his actions, which were concerned with sowing love for the children of God.

(Projected text: Isaiah 16:5 And in

mercy shall the throne be

established: and he shall sit upon it

in truth in the tabernacle of David,

judging, and seeking judgment, and

hasting righteousness.)

GINA

A very different focus than we see in David. Quiet. Unassuming. Not concerned with what the others around him are concerned with. Quietly working for the Lord. The centers are integrated, but in addition they are subjugated to a heart center that is constantly connected to God. It is not a God on the one hand, and a person praising God on another. With Jesus the power of God flows through the heart center and transforms the person into somebody who can share the power of God as well as praise it.

(A door bell rings. Sharon opens the

door and Paul enters. He sees Gina.)

(Projected text: Isaiah 17:14 And

behold at eveningtide trouble; and

before the morning he is not. This is

the portion of them that spoil us,

and the lot of them that rob us.)

PAUL

I would not have come had I known you already had a visitor.

SHARON

The Lord is certainly welcome to move in our lives here. We all need it. None of us alone are sufficiently strong to hold up under this kind of pressure. Gina and I have been discussing the evolution of human consciousness as revealed in Scripture. I must say I feel much better for our conversation, which we might perhaps continue at a later date. I promised her I would give her reflections upon her thoughts. And their depth inclines me to take some time and pray about my reflection. What brings you here, my son?

(Projected text: Isaiah 18:4 For so

the Lord said unto me, I will take my

rest, and I will consider in my

dwelling place like a clear heat upon

herbs, and like a cloud of dew in the

heat of harvest.)

PAUL

I have just come from church.

GINA

What kind of service?

PAUL

It was a study group.

GINA

What was being discussed?

PAUL

The nature of sin.

GINA

Good topic. Your mom and I started to get into that today as well.

SHARON

We decided to leave that for tomorrow. Would you like to join us for that discussion?

(Projected text: Isaiah 19:3-4 And

the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the

midst thereof; and I will destroy the

counsel thereof: and they shall seek

to the idols, and to the charmers,

and to them that have familiar

spirits, and to the wizards. And the

Egyptians will I give over into the

hand of a cruel lord; and a fierce

king shall rule over them, saith the

Lord, the Lord of hosts.)

PAUL

I wouldn't miss it. I was kind of hoping you would have some leftovers in your fridge, Mom.

SHARON

Help yourself to my hot and sour soup. Homemade. Perhaps Gina would like a snack as well.

GINA

I would indeed.

SHARON

I tell you what. I'll go heat up some soup and put some vegetables on a plate, while you two sit here and get caught up? I'll call you when it's ready.

(Sharon exits through door to kitchen.)

(Projected text: Isaiah 20:3-4 And

the Lord said, Like as my servant

Isaiah hath walked naked and barefoot

three years for a sign and wonder

upon Egypt and upon Ethiopia; So

shall the king of Assyria lead away

the Egyptians prisoners, and the

Ethiopians captives, young and old,

naked and barefoot, even with their

buttocks uncovered, to the shame of

Egypt.)

PAUL

I want to apologize for how I acted last night. I must tell you that my dating skills have become pretty rusty lately.

GINA

That is obvious. Apology accepted. My feelings were hurt. That is my fault. There was no reason for them to be. I like you. I want to keep seeing you. That is why I took the liberty of coming to see your mother. I was afraid you would never call again. I thought she could maybe help get us back together. I was going to ask her to pass you an apology for me. I really like her. We never got to that subject.

(Projected text: Isaiah 21:3

Therefore are my loins filled with

pain: pangs have taken hold upon me,

as the pangs of a woman that

travaileth: I was bowed down at

the hearing of it; I was dismayed at

the seeing of it.)

PAUL

She's great. She really helps keep me together. I've been under a lot of stress lately.

GINA

Oh, about what?

PAUL

At this time? I can't say. I am sorry. Maybe we can talk about it later.

GINA

I certainly hope so. But if you want to keep it secret. I'll honor that.

(Projected text: Isaiah 22:5 For it

is a day of trouble, and of treading

down, and of perplexity by the Lord

God of hosts in the valley of vision,

breaking down the walls, and of

crying to the mountains.)

PAUL

I'd like to make an argument that it is OK to tell you later. I have it rationalized anyway. Maybe I just need to work up my courage. But I don't want to make the argument for why insisting that I tell you something later doesn't make me a bad person. I have me convinced.

GINA

OK, we will talk about what is putting you under a lot of stress - we'll talk about that later, presumably because you have something that you really want to talk about now.

(Projected text: Isaiah 23:15-16 And

it shall come to pass in that day,

that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy

years, according to the days of one

king: after the end of seventy years

shall Tyre sing as an harlot. Take an

harp, go about the city, thou harlot

that hast been forgotten; make sweet

melody, sing many songs, that thou

mayest be remembered.)

PAUL

I want to talk about how much you mean to me.

GINA

Oh, that is a good subject. I'll be quiet and keep my opinions to my self for a few minutes.

PAUL

(Stands, paces, plays to house.)

I need more than a few minutes. And I will get to you in ample detail before we eat.

GINA

OK. I'll hold my cell phone calls until you tell me that you have finished your speech. I sometimes go into a meditation state when listening intently. Don't think that I've fallen asleep.

(Projected text: Isaiah 24:21-22 And

it shall come to pass in that day,

that the Lord shall punish the host

of the high ones that are on high,

and the kings of the earth upon the

earth. And they shall be gathered

together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in

the prison, and after many days shall

they be visited.)

PAUL

I am very neurotic. I am anxious, depressed, angry, confused, hyper vigilant, obsessed, perfectionistic, a geek. I know that I am not a lot of fun to be with. I've had dozens of hours of counseling. If I wasn't high on Jesus I had to be on some psychotropic medication. I know this is the outgrowth of an unresolved conflict between me and my parents. I agree with Freud that this conflict is powered essentially by unresolved sexual rivalry. I despise irrational authority. I really do.

GINA

I would agree with that.

(Projected text: Isaiah 25:11 And he

shall spread forth his hands in the

midst of them, as he that swimmeth

spreadeth forth his hands to swim:

and he shall bring down their pride

together with the spoils of their

hands.)

PAUL

It'd gotten so I don't know what normal is anymore. Yet I have the nerve to tell you today that I am very quickly falling in love with you. I have never before found myself falling in love like this. These feelings I am having are showing me that I never really knew what love was about until I met you.

GINA

Let me interrupt to assure you that you are neither incompetent nor unlovable.

PAUL

I look back now on previous relationships and wonder what I was thinking. I was just living in a fantasy world. I was trying to have a relationship with my own projection. Or I was trying to lean on somebody who couldn't stand up themselves. The way I feel about you starts from a much deeper place. I feel so good about loving you because it makes me feel godly. Loving you is like loving the Lord. It is taking me to a place beyond anxiety and dependence. I want to work together with you to serve the Lord, whatever shape that takes.

GINA

I really appreciate that. I a m very open to working on the form of partnership.

(Projected text: Isaiah 26:8-9 Yea,

in the way of thy judgments, O Lord,

have we waited for thee; the desire

of our soul is to thy name, and to

the remembrance of thee. With my soul

have I desired thee in the night;

yea, with my spirit within me will I

seek thee early: for when thy

judgments are in the earth, the

inhabitants of the world will learn

righteousness.)

PAUL

To be or not to be is a real question for me. You should know that twice I have attempted to overdose on pills and twice been revived in an emergency room. I can promise that I will not be bringing any of that energy into our partnership. In the interest of full disclosure is why I mention it. Other than that, no jail time or record, no sexually transmitted diseases. In fact I am a virgin. I love my mother. With your help, I am sure that I can do an even better job of adjusting to life. With you and the Lord. You are not going to tolerate living your life on anything but an utterly sound basis. You aren't going to sit around and see what fate brings in on the tide. If you believe in me it will be that much easier for me to believe in myself.

(Projected text: Isaiah 27:2-4 In

that day sing ye unto her, A vineyard

of red wine. I the Lord do keep it; I

will water it every moment: lest any

hurt it, I will keep it night and

day. Fury is not in me: who would set

the briers and thorns against me in

battle? I would go through them, I

would burn them together.)

PAUL

(Continuing.)

Forgive me for constantly interjecting myself into remarks ostensibly about you. I can't help it because I think of you all the time and can't help it because I think of you all the time and can't do it without now and then thinking about what is between us.

GINA

I feel very solid and open to working for the Lord with you.

PAUL

I tell you I won't miss the heartache. I won't miss the bump of bad fortune. I won't miss thinking so much about death.

(Projected text: Isaiah 28:9-10 Whom

shall he teach knowledge? and whom

shall he make to understand doctrine?

them that are weaned from the milk,

and drawn from the breasts. For

precept must be upon precept, precept

upon precept; line upon line, line

upon line; here a little, and there a

little. )

GINA

I recommend that you start journalizing your dreams. I think we should talk your dreams over.

PAUL

I think that the Lord has brought us together. I really need to be close to you and hope that you really need to be close to me.

GINA

I would do it even if you told me that you could whip my butt as I get old.

(Projected text: Isaiah 29:15 Woe

unto them that seek deep to hide

their counsel from the Lord, and

their works are in the dark, and they

say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth

us?)

PAUL

I know that I am unworthy. Somehow the Lord has seen fit to ask us to work together and play together in love.

GINA

Yes he has.

PAUL

It doesn't have to be all work either. Actually affection should be as important as work.

(Projected text: Isaiah 30:21-22 And

thine ears shall hear a word behind

thee, saying, This is the way, walk

ye in it, when ye turn to the right

hand, and when ye turn to the left.

Ye shall defile also the covering of

thy graven images of silver, and the

ornament of thy molten images of

gold: thou shalt cast them away as a

menstruous cloth; thou shalt say unto

it, Get thee hence.)

GINA

That is how the Lord would want it. He will help us forgive ourselves and each other for our sins.

PAUL

One of the things that had me bent out of shape last night was my pride. I have a difficult time submitting myself to you. I have never really submitted myself to a woman before. And I don't really know if it is realistic to expect that you will submit