“A Prayer”

In this scene, our protagonist dies. The young woman is first seen on her hospital bed, barely clinging to life. Alone in her room, she soon stretches her hand up toward Heaven, and gives a weak-voiced, one-word prayer — all that she can manage — a plea for her boyfriend’s parents.

Simultaneously, but off to the side of the stage and in an otherworldly environment, her boyfriend’s parents are standing still and wearing blindfolds, demons surrounding them. Yet the parents don’t seem afraid. If anything, they look quite relaxed and contented, standing rather casually instead of rigidly, clearly not noticing.

On the opposite side of the stage, by himself, the boyfriend is on his knees, praying. As soon as he begins to pray, the demons cease their threatening advance toward his parents, look upward apprehensively, and then glare toward where the young woman is.

Both side-scenes are then darkened, and we once again can see only the young woman in her room. She now begins to have difficulty breathing. She turns her head toward the audience. Then, she is gone.

Download “A Prayer” score

Tags: believe, boyfriend, death, demon, disease, dying wish, evil, faith, girlfriend, happy, illness, Jesus Christ, modern opera, otherworldly, prayer, repentance, sad, salvation


 “Life For Ever After”

The young Christian woman locates her friends at their local haunt, and, one by one, gently shares with them the truth of the Salvation that Jesus has already has provided for them. It is her fondest hope that at least one of them will make the ultimate decision to embrace their Creator and accept His greatest of all gifts to His children: Life, for ever after.

All of her friends reject her message. But, an overhearing woman — a prostitute — is fascinated by the words, and, soon after, privately commits her life to Christ in prayer. A spotlight then shines down upon her from directly above, signifying her new Salvation.

Download “Life For Ever After” score

Tags: angel, Bible, eternity, friends, God, Gospel, Heaven, Jesus Christ, modern opera, prayer, prostitute, repentance, salvation, Saved, witness


 “Christ”

Our protagonist has yet another prophetic dream, this time a “forthtelling” (revealing present but hidden truths) rather than a “foretelling” (revealing future events) dream, as she did last time (to use two theological terms). In this third dream sequence, God symbolically reminds her of the nature of the true path of all Christians: that they must follow in Christ’s own troubled and weary footsteps on His way to Calvary, and that all must “take up the cross and follow” Him. The dream conjures up a physical manifestation of that admonition by Jesus to His hearers in Matthew 16:24.

Download “Christ” score

Tags: attack, Christ's cross, count the cost, demon, dream, evil, Jesus Christ, Matthew 16:24, modern opera, prophetic, sacrifice, sad, take up your cross, visions

A single story thread runs through both operas, beginning in “Project Eternity” and ending with its sequel, “Vengeance”. I should explain the meanings of the two titles here. “Project Eternity” refers simply to God’s wish and various attempts to bring each of us to Heaven. The title “Vengeance” refers to Satan’s expressed vow of retribution against our protagonist, the unnamed young Christian woman, for her indirectly sharing the Gospel with a prostitute, who overhears it as the Christian woman is explaining eternal salvation to a friend. Her friend disdainfully rejects the message and leaves, but the prostitute who overhears it feels moved by God to repent, and, then and there, privately turns her life over to Him. She enters Heaven in the final scene of “Project Eternity”. Satan is livid at this turn of events; after all, he had owned that woman’s soul, and she would have been his to torment forever — until the Christian woman came along and interfered. Thus, in “Vengeance”, Satan takes out his wrath in full upon our protagonist.

Tags: angel, chorus, Christian, classical music, demon, God, Jesus Christ, modern opera, Satan