Like often before, we find here some familiar things, side by side with some new ones. The image of the puppet, for example, appears for the first time, but the notion of the broken, helpless creature who needs mercy is not new. And, as always, there are several allusions to the Jewish prayer book and other traditional materials, as well as to various other religious traditions. Here are just a few comments.II. 40
Let me not pretend you are with me, when you are not with me. Let me close down, let the puppet fall among the strings, until, by your mercy, he rises as a man. Let him dare to call on you from the dust, when there is nothing but dust and the coils of his defeat. Enter me again into the judgment, I who refuse to be judged. Enter me again into the mercy, I who have forgotten mercy. Let me raise your kingdom to the beauty of your name. Why do you welcome me? asks the bitter heart. Why do you comfort me? asks the heart that is not broken enough. Let him lie among the strings until there is no hope for his daily strategy, until he cries, I am yours, I am your creature. Then the surface of the world is restored, then he can walk and build a will. Blessed are you whose blessings are discerned by those who know your name. The evil are seen clearly, and the good are beyond safety, and in the panic the whole world prays, Let us not be tested. Blessed are you who creates and destroys, who sits in judgment on numberless worlds, who judges the present with mercy.
… asks the heart that is not broken enough – Commenting on the previous entry (II.39), I’ve quoted some relevant sayings by the Hassidic sage Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Kotzk. This verse seems to allude to another of his famous saying, “Nothing is as whole as a broken heart”. Apparently, being constantly in the state of “a broken heart” in front of God is the ideal.
Let us not be tested – From the Jewish morning blessings, said upon waking up. And perhaps this is also relevant: in the common English rendering of “The Lord’s Prayer”, where it says “and lead us not into temptation”, some other translations have “save us from the time of trial”. The Greek word peirasmos can mean testing or trial, as well as temptation. We no longer have the original Aramaic or Hebrew of the New Testament, but it may be that it was similar to the common Jewish blessing.
Blessed are you who creates and destroys, who sits in judgment on numberless worlds – This has many connotations, one of which is an allusion to the Talmudic legend about God creating and destroying several worlds before creating our current one. It also brings to mind certain ideas of Hinduism and Buddhism (that’s yours, Mat).
…who judges the present with mercy – God may have destroyed previous worlds, but the current one he judges with more mercy, apparently, since he hadn’t destroyed it. Also, earlier in this prayer judgment was presented as separated from mercy, but here the notions are combined: there is a judgment, but it’s a merciful one. It also brings to mind lines from “The Law”, that amazing song from Various Positions, the album which, as we have said many times before, is the “other half” of Book of Mercy (both appeared in 1984). Here are a few lines from that song:
I'm not asking for mercy
Not from the man
You just don't ask for mercy
While you're still on the stand
There's a Law, there's an Arm, there's a Hand
There's a Law, there's an Arm, there's a Hand
I don't claim to be guilty
Guilty's too grand
There's a Law, there's an Arm, there's a Hand
There's a Law, there's an Arm, there's a Hand