The World is Wide Enough

If you are a geek like me, whether for history, church, or musicals, you would be surprised to know how all three intersect in arguably the most popular musicals of our day. You may have heard about a musical about a founding father who also happens to be on the ten-dollar bill. BUT, what you might not know is that Alexander Hamilton was a dedicated and devout Episcopalian. Hamilton’s final resting place is at Trinity Church Wall Street. I don’t bring this up to say look at us; we are so cool, but because I believe the story of Alexander Hamilton and the Episcopal Church, especially highlighted in the musical, speaks to our time today especially during the penitential season of Lent as we prepare for the Death and Resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Right after the infamous Schyler Sisters’s song, still early on in the first act, this man (dressed very differently than the rest of the cast) introduces himself as Samuel Seabury. Then, we get a well-orchestrated and masterfully written duet with Hamilton refuting Seabury. They often sing the same line in unison with contradicting meanings. Beyond the music, the deeper story of faith behind this encounter is even more profound. 

You may not know that Samuel Seabury (dressed in typical clerical fashion in the 1700s) was the first Presiding Bishop of the American Episcopal Church and a pivotal pillar in American church history. But I am not going to give you a church history lecture about the way our liturgy and church structure was directly created under this man’s leadership. Instead, I want to discuss the man of the hour and Hamilton’s role within the same liturgy and structure. 

Some historians claim that Hamilton was not Episcopalian or, at the very least, was not a “very good” one because he often got into public disagreements with church leaders like Seabury. But on his infamous deathbed, we get a glimpse of how his “Episcopal Branch of the Jesus Movement Faith” (as PB Michael Curry says) is highlighted so beautifully that it speaks to our divisive time. To see this in action, I want to look at the scene in the musical where his death occurs. 

In the World is Wide Enough, we get this beautiful stop motion of the last few moments of Hamilton’s life. The bullet that will eventually kill him slows down, and Lin Manuel Miranda creatively imagines what is going through Hamilton’s mind in these few seconds. However, Miranda may not realize that he also beautifully illustrates a testament of faith. After the shot, Hamilton starts contemplating his legacy. But then beautifully asks the question: “what is a legacy?/ It's planting seeds in a garden you never get to see.” He then describes what he calls the otherside, but it is really Hamilton’s conception of heaven. 

 “I catch a glimpse of the other side.”

“Laurens leads a soldiers' chorus on the other side.”

His dear friend, John Laurens, who died in the Revolutionary War, is there in heaven on the other side.

“My son is on the other side.”

Little Phillip Hamilton, his dear firstborn, who died in a duel defending his family's honor, is also there in heaven. (Ironically, the musical is designed so that the very same actor plays John Laurens and Phillip Hamilton.) 

“He's with my mother on the other side.”

The mother who brought him into this world. The part of his story that helps make Hamilton “a lot smarter, a self-starter.” 

“Washington is watching from the other side”

Hamilton’s mentor and friend. The one who taught him how to say goodbye. 

Then, a few moments later, there is this gut wrenching moment of Eliza bringing Hamilton back to reality as she appears on stage in silence: “My love, take your time/ I'll see you on the other side”

He then reiterates a verse from a song earlier in the first act with his friends Washington and Laurens: “Raise a glass to freedom”

Freedom. But what true freedom is to believe in an “eternal life in our enjoyment with God” and Neighbor (directly from the Catechism in the Book of Common Prayer page 862). Where “God himself will be with them and be their God; he will wipe every tear from their eyes.

Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more,” (Revelations 21:3b-4) And then everything speeds up:

“Wait!”

The lights go black. There is silence. A new beat starts to play. 

Aaron Burr says “I strike him right between his ribs

“I walk towards him, but I am ushered away

They row him back across the Hudson”

The actors beautifully pantomime rowing across the Hudson as the stage's outer circle spins. And, Burr starts to realize the consequences of his actions as continues to narrates Hamilton’s biography. Burr later on in the song sings:

“They say Angelica and Eliza

Were both at his side when he died”

But, what Lin Manuel Miranda misses in the writing of the musical is what actually happened at Hamilton’s death bed. They did row him back across the Hudson to his friend William Bayard’s home. But it was not just just Angelica and Eliza by his side. Per Hamilton’s request, Rt. Rev. Benjamin Moore, his own Rector at Trinity Church and also happened to be the Episcopal Bishop of New York, came to give him what we call in the Episcopal Church the Reconciliation of a Penitent and Ministration at the Time of Death, both found in the Book of Common Prayer.

In Bishop Moore’s own words:

“Upon my entering the room, and approaching the bed, with the utmost calmness and composure, [Hamilton] said, “My dear sir, you perceive my unfortunate situation, and no doubt have been made acquainted with the circumstances which led to it. It is my desire to receive the communion at your hands. I hope you will not conceive there is any impropriety in my request.” He added “I was for some time past been the wish of my heart, and it was intention to take an early opportunity of uniting myself to the church, by the reception of that holy ordinance.” 

Or, simply put: “Bless me, for I have sinned” (BCP 447). Bishop Moore then narrates how he went through a question and answer format for penitent Hamilton. And then, the final, most important question:

“Do you sincerely repent of your sins past? Have you a lively faith in God’s mercy through Christ, with a thankful remembrance of the death of Christ? And are you disposed to live in love and charity with all men?” 

[Hamilton] lifted up his hands and said “With the utmost sincerity of heart I can answer those questions in the affirmative—I have no ill-will against Col. Burr. I met him with a fixed resolution to do him no harm—I forgive all that happened.” 

On his deathbed, Hamilton releases himself from the pain and finds true freedom by forgiving his political rival, His murderer, and finally his brother in Christ. As Aaron Burr says, 

“I should've known the world was wide enough for both Hamilton and me”