"In the beginning was the deed"

Goethe tells us that this was Faust's rewrite of the opening phrase of the bible.

Not the Word. The Deed.

How interesting that Faust requires that God should act, not speak, to exist. To create the universe.

Is it action that defines us? This was what Faust thought. Faust was an intellectual - but action mattered more to him than words. 

I think about this now. What is the core of me if I remove the deed? If I define myself outside of my actions, I feel a broken person entirely. I am a paper doll: intellect and pain.

Was this Faust, as well? The constant striving; the inability to be at peace? 

If Mephistopheles can give Faust a moment in which he no longer wishes to strive, but begs for that moment to go on, can he win Faust's soul:

"Werd ich zum Augenblicke sagen:
Verweile doch! du bist so schönn
Dann magst du mich in Fesseln schlagen,
Dann will ich gern zugrunde gehn!
Dann mag die Totenglocke schallen,
Dann bist du deines Dienstes frei,
Die Uhr mag stehn, der Zeiger fallen,
Es sei die Zeit für mich vorbei!"

 If I shall say to the moment:
Only stay a while! You are so beautiful!
Then forge the shackles to my feet,
Then will I gladly perish!
Then may the death knell sound
Then are you free of your servitude,
The clock may stop, its hands fall still,
And time for me be complete.

I have had this moment and time should have stopped for me. I was completely at peace in his arms and I would have stayed there forever. Willingly died if death could have been so merciful and taken me then. If only I could have stayed there with him. Where I was born to be.

And the moment passed. And Mephistopheles took his due.

And I am damned now.

Goethe was correct.No action. No other pursuit matters.