Lost in the Wilderness

My favorite musical is called Children of Eden by Stephen Schwartz, which is loosely based on the book of Genesis. In the show, after Adam and Eve sinned and are banished from the Garden of Eden, they move into “The Wasteland” and try and raise their family. They have two songs, Cain and Abel. Abel does his best to serve the Father with a humble and giving heart, despite their less-than-Eden circumstances. Cain, on the other hand, is fed up with the fact that their parents screwed up perfection for them. Now he feels like he has to go “beyond” to try and find that once-lost perfection. He wants to find adventure and not just sit contently in this “Wasteland.” The boys sing a powerful song (my favorite song in the show) called “Lost in the Wilderness” in which Cain expresses his frustration and resentment toward God, his parents, and his brother.

ABEL

Here we are your grateful children
Please accept our sacrifice
May you hear us and forgive us
Bring us back to paradise

CAIN [over ABEL]

All these years of this cruel joke
The best harvest going up in smoke
Praying for a future from these silent stony shelves
How much more of this must we take
This is the day we will make a future for ourselves

ABEL

But, Cain, if it's God's will...

CAIN

Is it God's will or have we all been conned?
Brother, we will never know
We will never grow
If we never go
Beyond

I never made this world, I didn't even lose it
And I know no one said fair
But they had a garden once
They had the chance to choose
They gave it away including my share

And now we're lost in wilderness
Lost, crying in the wilderness
And if anyone's watching it seems they couldn't care less
We're lost wilderness

[To ABEL]
You follow all the rules
You swallow the stories
And every night you wish on a star
Dreaming your day will come, trusting in allegories
And every morning boy look where you are

Lost in the Wilderness
Lost, lonely, dying in the wilderness
With no chance of living boy, until you confess
You're lost in the wilderness

Did you ever watched the eagle fly to the sun
And wondered how he got to be so free
If you ever, have you know, your journey's begun
Hey, what you got to lose, boy when already we are
Lost in the wilderness

And where we are headed boy, I couldn't guess but
Off we go without a warning
Running as we hit the ground
Where our future lies before us
Where our hearts are outward bound
Till one bright and distant morning
We may stop and look around
And there in the wilderness
Finally we'll be found!

Here's a link to someone's performance of this song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rAAOPJAAi8