Book of Mercy #27-28

[~greg]

But then you asked about it so insecurely

I'm not sure what you are on about/alluding to here

Are you sure you're not sure?

(Because that's all I was alluding to. )

[mat james]

[jimbo]

Theres no getting aw\ay from the spirt of GoD

[mat james]

Don't call me god, jimbo
I'll get a big head.

[ania]

at least i know youre alive

[Manna]

I suppose you're right - that he is saying that nobody can own land, that it isn't just each people have their own land. Thinking about it a bit more now, I can't bring myself to fully subscribe to either notion. Maybe the way I am seeing it is that an individual can own his land, but a people cannot. I wouldn't want to limit any person's movement or experience by relegating him to only certain lands based on the tradition of the folks who bred him. I might want to be able to go to any part of the world, find something unclaimed, and say it is mine. And when I die, it isn't mine anymore.

Did you know that if everyone in the world stood together, shoulder to shoulder, in one place, we'd be about the size of Texas? Of course, we'd all die pretty fast if we did that. Let's not. OK?

Anyway, I don't much like this passage, though I did enjoy reading it.

[Manna]

That Texas thing wasn't a completely random thought, only nearly so. I was wondering about how much land a person should have. Back when the slaves were freed, I think I remember something about them (supposed to be) getting a certain amount of land, 40 acres, maybe? I guess 40 acres is supposed to be enough to live on. But I could be confusing different history lessons. I never was very good at my history lessons.

[lazariuk]

Did you know that if everyone in the world stood together, shoulder to shoulder, in one place, we'd be about the size of Texas?

Standing like that Texas can hold 3650 billion people.

Standing like that, giving 2 sq. feet per person we could all fit into 4770 Empire State buildings.

(laying on the floor with others stacked above us we would fill about 34 ESBs, remove the moisture from our bodies we might all get into one)

Standing on each other's shoulders we could reach the moon 26 times

There is enough arable land for each family of 5 to have 5.82 acres. Other land is available for other uses.

Does that give you a feel of the situation?

[Manna]

Does that give you a feel of the situation?

no. Not until you tell me what state is ~1/6 the size of Texas. New York maybe?

[che]

I think most peoples would not want to stand in Texas

[lazariuk]

Does that give you a feel of the situation?

no. Not until you tell me what state is ~1/6 the size of Texas. New York maybe?

Why 1/6th?

[Manna]

ummm, because I lost my zero key...? maybe?

[lazariuk]

ummm, because I lost my zero key...? maybe?

If you are wondering on how big a state do you need to hold the human population standing close together. About 1/3 of Rhode Island would do the trick. With the whole state being used it would be like a very crowded cocktail party.

[mat james]

The Covenant is broken, the condition is dishonoured, have you not noticed that the world has been taken away? ... He has overturned the vehicle of nationhood, he has spilled the precious cargo, and every nation he has taken back.

Our time is short on Earth and we /you behave in a way that is very short-sighted. The "precious cargo is perhaps semen. Wasn't Adam told to go forth and multiply? And wasn't spilling the seed a sin?
In this myth, weren't we all of the same stock?

Because you are swollen with your little time.
Because you do not wrestle with your angel.
Because you dare to live without God.
Because your cowardice has led you to believe that the victor does not limp.

It is not a good picture our man Leonard paints. It seems he is saying that the Jews and others have lost the plot because they are no longer linked to God, but they are

all of you at war with Mercy. Who will say it?
All bloated on their scraps of destiny, all swaggering in the immunity of superstition.
You have no place, you will wander through yourselves from generation to generation without a thread.

The measure for Leonard is "Mercy" (after all this is "The Book of Mercy) and the poeple of Israel seem to him to be devoid of this quality.
We need to "wrestle" with our Angel, look at both sides of the situation if we wish to move towards God.
Instead we move away by ignoring the plight of the children of Hagar.
This is what Leonard is suggesting to me.

In summary: "Love your neighbour as yourself, or move away from Me"?

Matj

[Manna]

The Covenant is broken, the condition is dishonoured, have you not noticed that the world has been taken away? ... He has overturned the vehicle of nationhood, he has spilled the precious cargo, and every nation he has taken back.

Our time is short on Earth and we /you behave in a way that is very short-sighted. The "precious cargo is perhaps semen. Wasn't Adam told to go forth and multiply? And wasn't spilling the seed a sin?
In this myth, weren't we all of the same stock?

Because you are swollen with your little time.
Because you do not wrestle with your angel.
Because you dare to live without God.
Because your cowardice has led you to believe that the victor does not limp.

Hey Mat, this is very interesting. I hadn't considered this as a sexual thing.
When I read what you wrote, it leads me to certain places I dont' know if you intended. You're talking about spilled semen, and the next stuff is about being swollen and not wrestling with an angel. It sounds like you're wrestling with the difference between jerking off vs. other means, or possibly the difference between sex as fucking and sex as praying. But I don't know if that was your intention. I recently saw a video of a guy talking about how the same religions that say go forth and multiply also say that anything that encourages sex is bad.

I get the idea sometimes that everything I do should be a prayer.