#Leveraging Leviticus

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

“For it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.” (Lev. 17:11, NKJV)

by Stan Gale | Whenever I read the opening chapters of Leviticus I am taken aback by all the different sacrificial offerings (burnt, peace, grain, guilt, sin), the frequency with which they are to be made, and the detail in which they are presented. I am much relieved to be ministering on this side of the cross...

[exitwound]

It is because the tumblr influencer has no social capital with which to leverage influence, that only the tumblr influencer will truly do so. —Leviticus

[rwmhunt]

Leviticus, Chapter 23

1. Substitute day, and a return unto A sender of something, as to another place, That hasn't the wherewithal to get there either; I will open it again and learn That which is already known to be such As isn't so much.

2. And it's not mine, but a, And is the right way round. For as I set the seasons, I reprise, reply, replay; It's substitution day.

3. And Sabbath is the seventh, Whence the lord, in all thy dwellings, Is up for doing nothing; Or Sabbath is the sixth; I don't care.

4. And welcome to my channel, It's great to have each of you still with me- A man who speaks of people By their purpose, Himself as his own singer, With- such are the seasons, Even, holy convocations, For want to be sure of a constant, It's Senhal, An obscure term For an old friend.

5. Love, love, lo, this is not Of a cloven love, Leviticus, I will speak of it Unto sundry strangers and neighbours, As just one more month's dusk Then it'll be passover, Not once. Not twice, Not once. Love. So we can still imagine a time When all of this will go again;

6. But a day will approach When, if there is something That can look back, Could think that 'here' and 'then' Are really very close;- And I wonder if they saw The strings of direct attachment, Lining their behaviours; Just flour and water, But I don't think so; Still, anytime was closer to history than this one, So what do I know?

7. If I were to put the onus On to the impossible, Then what was light-hearted and playful, Would be wont to become ridden and surly; Lord, being an influencer is a serious endeavour, For how many unsuccessful oblations are there That are out there? Lo, state your appreciation; Don’t just wing it. Plan it out in kalends, Of which are reckon'd to be backwards; so, To start, do nothing.

8. After a week, Let's go- Gift your influencers' grift, For, when you so do this, It strokes the ego of the flames, Who then add unto the savour of sacrifice, Thus, get me it up; Make it smolder, Then, use its fatal nature To activate the future.

9. And simple: These are nacks, To muster control Over gods; Are junk and have been; That we all have interest vested- Let ignorance of it control Hereafter, same, so anon and amen.

10. Crowdsplain- First fruit the priest Hard and long, Find the tunnels, Writing what's impossible For the brain to conceive, That it may then be read back of, To supplant and supersede; So become possible.

11. And thither, the Wheatchief Will wave the sheaf Tomorrow- See how it goes? Ol' Cathode Ray, and Non-mathmatical aesthetic identities, The spirit of the radio take her.

12. That once the sheaf And all the while Be specific unto thy niche- Nativize unto thy platform, For, the experience shall follow The rhyzome's swerve and function, So that the user-expectation be wrought From whence the contents be placed- In this case, Add in a lamb shank ponzi scheme to my platform; Smells wonderful.

13. So unto the titular character, Exerting such low level leverage as Begetteth me of an ephah cake, And a quarter hin of wine; I don't need the free stuff, I am a successful influencer, But shouldst you want me to advertise for suckers On my platform that I have built myself for free; Well, we're all getting along so good.

14. Then it's me first, And simple: see- That our boldest endeavours, And most exciting adventures- They have not yet even begun; That, in spite of all the detritus, In the teeth of all that we've done, my boys, I tell you: The best Is yet To come.

15. Then, 49 days later, Seek whence Thought might come in sequence, And I'm really so blessed and thankful to you all for being here; So, as thought comes  in sequence And thus, it wasn't known where We are going here as we begun. O tensions, retensions- I use to used to run.

16.  Know, influencers, I am the hype; So on-brand that I can give unto you, And through you, the trick- Pyramid that still stands For the thousands- Round it up; So nice.

17. And, super relevant- Optimize continuously, also, Compensate me handsomely; while Sacrifice may seem like a quick-success marketing strategy, It isn’t so. Such are the things that keep not happening; More food please.

18. Lots more, This is why the burden of proof for rhetorical claim Shall falleth shortly As among the Open Wounde who should maketh of such a claim; It is not upon the world to provide him a fallacy, But he, who's to prove the world its truth; which, Across all channels, He, rerewise, hath been completely unable to do.

19. So suffer him his own precarity; And then some; Think back to when, Twirrup twipip,-pwiwip, Suwee, psu, swoo swsoo, So sweepeth they in song, As we, quiet, Through our blossom comedown, That hideth our tiny singers, And the bulgence behind the wiltage, In the verges, Be of burgeoning seed.

20. And everyone wave; All this- so good as is it to be; And though under a hail Of black tormentors, Our torment, And through its over-drone, With no one remembering it happening, But, who'll remember the photograph?

21. Sit back; You've lost everything, So lo, olah, you remember how mother died- Bringing cow parsley into the tent of meaning; For she went by the umbels as we'd walked on the plain, And they had reminded her of those lace cushions That her ladies-in-waiting had carried, And so gave them the name.

22. Embassadors, Leave thy corners to disillusion; A true influencer ideally keeps doing What they genuinely gain of a passion for. They know their value and their need is not to shew it, So spend a lot of time reading news and sharing opinions with others online. By buying-up dozens of potential plots, They help to plot the exodus to less, And stake an astronaut over the shape of a woman. But politics isn’t about the weird worship of one dude, So his words became their actions.

23.  Is it worth your time To try and ignore that, if, What you are listening to Is  the most effective form of advertising- A babbling of a technique That hath impostulated language, Then, should things go well, We may even be able to rend a cross-paracleation With phantom trust-collaborators, Interested in guest-posting for backlinks and exposure, Thus, marrying into micro-influencers, And so tap into our y.

24. But be consistent: For my favourite casts come out the same- Here, crowdplain how a seventh month is a Sound the trumpet month; See how it goes? Lo, but half of me struggles with the whimsy Of the other side that's yet so entranced; No, I'm not sure why, it's just the way I feel.

25. Down tools, more please. Gnaw your own head off. All things positivity- and It is always negotiation; Not: You bring it to the tabernacle, I sing- There is no shortness of spirit In opinion To be cut down. Equal positives, so unto Those things that keep not happening.

26. There are voices you hear of, As quoted as begetters of insightful opinion, Who art themselves never made extant, Being only reported hereto as sources, And lo, that they are the influencers. And I'm super curious as to know what you guys think; Please be sure to leave your comments amid the margins.

27. Thence, afflict thy souls, For, tis atonement day- We're ten into the seventh, And the snap's back when I was An offensive lineman, And the pass sent over- The big lie, long, long to the long deceiver, Ah, burnt offerings- How original, Best look unto the analytics, And if they give you not access there unto , Verily, you are going to have to fight, Fight as peaceful as Sheol, Down, deep down and dirty- I'm not going to call it off.

28. Down tools; Atone to the dial tone, No one calls; Let Ladder Capital Createth of the sponsored post- Like many on the medium, To use an ode- I used to play the role; To laugh and laugh; Laugh til I despised all there was to laugh at, And then I stopped, And in the silence, saw what I had done.

29. But laughing is not so bad.

We've been a good wee band. Yes we have. No one is coming after us. And if you're alright, mack, You'll get cut off.

30. So workers got destroyed That day, And Aaron was frustrated, And livid. Reach round; Feel thy spine. The way people stop you From being helpful When you are helpful, So that you cannot be helpful, So that they can cut you From your people.

31. Tardiness in perpetuity, Aye, today, it is Yplangenday- Well, I'll have to put myself Through some more adamantine Paces than god allows, else I'll never get enough done.

32. And be bold, For, you'll need to deracinate; Chancers are toxic vocations Within the tent of meaning; It's content; it's all content- Divide and game, so- Focus and grow. I mean to make sure That you are a consistent- Start of the ninth evening , End of the next.

33. God doesn't eat though, That I can see- For all that we give him, God doesn't eat.

34. Crowd, 15/7, and tabernacle feast week; Still his words became their actions, Shrill, until the doctrine of laches, When the searched-after Faithless elector went libertarian, Like many on the medium, Clade unto such bolled and novel obstacles What stretched where chance was slim, And slim was still in quarantine.

35. To start again, down tools, For, lo, if you want to be in a prison camp, You needst allow yourself the luxury Of being stupid enough to get captured.

36. Sacrifice? Spluttereth the LORD: But I'm fed up with so much burnt rubbish, I wish for forced fresh rhubarb, So shunt and jive; I've Optimized, and optimize continuously.

37. Drinks break; take life indicting, Gratify all at a local craven hire scheme, Go abroad singing, so merrylike, To slough off the whole As one enormous rhyzome. Deus Hic! God is drunk! I heard that, Brian Leg-Coverall.

38. O well done Jehus, And good to be with you, Yes you, Who are good in a crisis; A reminder- I'm working with mischief.

39. Wait, rest again, To live is to live through An embarrassment of times, Damarkated as meaningful riches, That will not be well remembered. Really, I am so blessed.

40. But try to ask of a question; So that thy congregation Might make communion in answer, See how it goes? Say, But why, isn't it A bit like palm sunday? The stream changeth its name As it passeth through each neighbourhood. I knew it as; Well it doesn't matter- You're not reposting, nor liking my banal repartee, So, unfollow.

41. And it goes; for I have giv'n unto them a scapegoat, But they cast it not out; So shall there be a reaving that will follow, and Themselves, they shall be cut off from.

42. Then all ye home-born booth dwellers In dwelling booths, Shall dwell in booths seven days and know That you are living in the rhyzome..

43. And everyone will know that I made you do this- The old booth dwellers, needing my rescue out of Egypt, So weakened,  the Open Wounde stayeth open; And remember to tell us what you think, Way down, deep down, down in the margins.

44. And Mose went about with the crowdsplaining Old loud-haler; A simple fellow out of storybook glen, From the tent of meaning, From the twilight men, He ran and told- And the thing is, They were too clever To not know what they were doing- So the target becomes bios; Is the common psychle, The answer- How would you like it? Is - 'I didn't'. And that therein has a hold and salience, As before tends to be the best time to regret- It is a kind of nonsense. I'm so merry

I'm so merry and sad.

[elizacornwall]

Vengeance is an Idiot’s Game  - Chapter 2 - Iron Bars

The ground beneath the furs she laid on was hard and cold. Not that it mattered of course, her racing mind wouldn't have let her fall asleep anyway. The solid iron bars surrounding her didn't do much to comfort Eliza either. Her fearful tremors had subsided, but a deeper sense of looming dread slowly expanded, filling the space in her chest where the blind panic had been. These men were able to steal her away from the most protected house in the state, hell, in all America, without anyone noticing. Who were they?

They weren't any actual business partners of her father, that much was certain. No one in their right mind would attempt to intimidate him by stealing something of his, and hope to retain a favourable relationship with him after that. Yet, what business could they have with him? She dreaded the response. Money, most likely. The thought of them trying to blackmail Leviticus Cornwall with his own daughters life almost made her laugh. He never wanted a daughter in the first place, and she certainly didn't care much for him. After her mother died he took her in, begrudgingly, and had tried to marry her off ever since. She wasn't quite decided yet if he just tried to be rid of her, or if he saw her as some sort of deal sweetener to the big pockets of this country.

In either case, Eliza was always more expense than what she got him in return, so he wouldn't care too much about her being in the hands of a group of criminals. After all, he never much cared about the men trying to assault her in his own house, he blamed her for 'leading them on' and not taking up their offers. She was a liability to his plentiful endeavours, and he surely would be glad to be free of this burden. Eliza tossed and turned, her thoughts returning again and again to what those men would do to her if they found out she'd be of no value to them – they had her caged and tied up, and she was completely at their mercy. In her experience, men were savage creatures who put their desires before everything else, and she was in a camp with at least five of those dangerous beasts.

Sure enough, they didn't do anything indecent to her yet – apart from the kidnapping she supposed – but she didn't believe that would last long.

The heavy canvas over the iron bars let through some light now, daybreak wouldn’t be too far away. The dark, straight lines of unyielding iron around her seemed to close in on her and her breath quickened. Eliza sat up and wrapped her arms around her knees, praying to a Lord she never truly believed in, that somehow, she'd make it out of this mess alive.

___

The girl didn't know how long she was sat there for, curled up and trying not to let the fear take every coherent thought out of her mind again. She tried to focus on her immediate surroundings to stay calm. The inside of her 'accommodation', as the boss man had called it, was illuminated enough now for her to realise it must be some sort of prison wagon, stolen of course. Outside, birds were singing and twittering away happily, as if she didn't have the worst night of her life. She heard the drawn out bugle of an Elk, somewhere far away, and a horses soft whinny in response. Wind brushed through the trees, it sounded like she was in the midst of a forest. It would have been calm and soothing, if not for her terrifying situation. The call of a rooster made her jump. Why a bunch of common criminals would keep something as domestic as a rooster eluded her, but she was soon surprised by the stirring of what seemed to be more people than just the five that brought her here, and she thought she heard the voice of a woman too. Eliza squeezed her knees tighter, but it didn't avert the shaking that had started anew. Who on earth were these people? The confusion fanned her fear, and the more rustling and bustling she heard, the less she could string her thoughts together. Through the waves of trembling horror and short moments of clearness in her mind, she heard the muffled chatter of voices, male and female, and they seemed so... Normal. Like they didn't have a kidnapped girl in their midst, like no one even knew she was there, trapped in her mind, completely and utterly helpless. Just as she feverishly thought (or hoped?) they might have forgotten about her, heavy footsteps, accented with the clink of spurs came closer to her prison. She didn't think she could tense up any more than what she already was, but learned soon she was wrong on that. The clear shadow of a man’s body was cast onto the canvas opposite to her. “Are you awake Miss Cornwall?” There was a knock on the wooden wagon floor. His booming voice was filled with a warm tone that was surely intended to soothe her, but had the opposite effect and her steady shakes turned violent again. Eliza wanted to answer, but her throat failed her. He knocked again. “I'm gonna lift the canvas now, I've got some food here for you Miss.” The shadow moved and the heavy fabric started to part in front of her. She wanted to shut her eyes and disappear, but neither of these things were possible, so she stared helplessly at the hand, the arm and then the upper body that came into view. With the sun rising behind him, it was hard to see anything more than a silhouette, but she was sure it was yesterday's leader, she wouldn't forget his voice that easily. “Oh dear Lord, you look absolutely terrified Miss Cornwall. My sincerest apologies, we have no intent of harming you. My name is Dutch van der Linde, I am the leader of our little camp. May I come in please?” Van der Linde. Something about that name rang familiar in her mind, but she couldn’t place it. He sounded concerned and truly sorry, but she didn't believe it was honest. His words were too smooth, too perfect to be true. She didn't know how to answer his question, so she just pushed herself back a bit more. He took this as approval and produced an iron key. “Our cook Mr. Pearson may not be as versed as the head chef and your kitchen staff, but his porridge tastes good enough, especially with a spoon of honey stirred in.” The door opened and he hoisted himself up into the wagon, his shoulders bent over to be able to fit in. Eliza shuffled back even more and felt her spine push against a cold iron bar. She was trapped, the only route of escape leading past him. The man approached slowly, and now that the tent flap had fallen down again, she could make out his features. His combed hair was almost black, grown down to his shoulders, his nose and cheekbones prominent in his face and his dark eyes beneath the stern brow had a knowing, intimidating glint. He looked as if he was a well groomed man, his beard was neatly kept and his clothing was immaculate, the white of his shirt so perfect as if freshly washed, the waistcoat fitting like it was tailored onto his body and at the end of his black, spotless trousers were polished shoes. He didn't look like a low life criminal, but that didn't soothe her fears one bit. He put the steaming bowl down at his side. “I'll remove your ties now Miss Cornwall, but please don't be rash and try to run. I guarantee your safety as long as you follow my orders, do you understand?" While he spoke, he lifted one hand into the air in an appeasing gesture, pulling a knife from behind his back with the other. She gave a quick, curt nod. Her voice hadn't found its way back to her yet. He was looming over her now and lowered himself onto one knee, looking expectantly at her arms that were squeezed tightly around her knees. With great effort, she forced her cramped muscles to relax and lifted her wrists towards him. He took her hands into his left, and with his right swiftly cut through the rope tying them together, then he did the same with the ties around her ankles. As soon as he was done, he retreated a few steps before squatting down again, giving her some personal space and Eliza realised she had held her breath the whole time. “I realise how frightening this must be for you Miss, but please rest reassured that I won't allow any harm to come to you. You are merely a way for us to... prove to your father that doing business with us would be in his best interest, and for that we need you to be alive and well.” She took a deep, testing breath, it was as if she'd forgotten how to speak. “I- I'm not sure that's gonna work.” Her voice was shaky and she hated herself for it. The desperate plea to let her go sat on the tip of her tongue, but she swallowed it. Her gut told her this man was not one to fall victim to such things. “And why would you think that Miss Cornwall?” he asked, his eyes holding her firmly with a curious look. “My father doesn't give in to blackmail, and I'm certainly not something he would mind losing. You have no leverage with me I'm afraid.” His brows furrowed at this, but his eyes were still resting on her, calm and calculating. Then he raised himself up as much as the bars above him would allow and smiled. “We will see about that, Miss. He may be a tough business man, but you are still his daughter.” He retreated and hopped off the wagon, locking the door behind him. “Please try the porridge, I promise you it's quite pleasant!” He opened the canvas flap and stepped outside. Eliza sat pressed against the bars a moment longer, then carefully got on her knees, reaching for the bowl with a shaky hand. She wasn't sure she would keep it down if she ate any food, but he was right. If this plan would have any chance of succeeding, they needed her alive and well, and she hadn't had any dinner the night before.

Her thoughts swirled around his strangely familiar name and the conversation she just had, the leathery scent of his aftershave still lingering in the air. read all the so far published chapters here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26033464/chapters/63306448

[ohdeputy]

100 Letters PART VIII

Arthur Morgan x John Marston

Words: 5,311

Read on Archive

Part VII

-

Pain exploded across John’s nose, not processing what had happened until he hit the ground. He looked up at his abuser to see a rough looking man standing over him. A pair of hands grabbed onto John, lifting him back up.

“Van der Linde! Get out here!” John could hear a gruff voice coming not far from where he was being held.

“You don’t know me, but you keep robbing me!”

He was an older man, though, cleaned up. He dawned lavish clothing from what looked like a silk necktie to gold buttons down his coat that he wore overtop a pinstripe suit. But amongst it all, John could make out a shiny pocket watch which hung from his vest.

He watched the scene play out before him in bewilderment until the realization at who this mysterious man could be suddenly hit him, oh no…

“My name is Leviticus Cornwall! And I am not a man to be messed with by the likes of you!”

As if on cue, the, no doubt, hired thug that gripped him threw his fist at John again, completely distracting him from his attention on the one person in the entire state that the Van der Linde gang was trying their utmost to avoid.

He reached a hand to cover his face, cradling his nose as he was sure it began to bleed. The thug gave him a creepy smile that John so desperately wanted to knock off his face.

“I’m afraid I’m not much of a bargaining chip if you intended to use me as any sort of leverage,” John muffled through his hand.

The thug’s smile dropped, curling his lip. “Shut up!” He threw John to the ground, landing on his stomach and struggled against the man’s foot now placed on his back. John cursed himself for making the foolish decision of opening his mouth. Admitting his worthlessness was probably not the best way out of this already poor situation.

Not that him being held hostage for someone like Dutch was going to help him much anyways… though with Arthur there perhaps he would have a chance.

It was too late to think about any of that now as he felt the man reach down and start to bind his feet together, “then if you’re of no use to Mister Cornwall, we’ll have a bit of fun with you instead.”

Panic seized John, growing anxious from the thug’s comment and leaving him to wonder what he meant, his mind now racing for a way to escape. The thug motioned to another man to drag him beside the saloon and away from the feud. In this narrow alley was where all the men hid their horses, out of sight so no one might suspect their arrival.

The thug that had punched him earlier took out more rope that John was scared to think what he might do with. Bending down where John’s feet were already tied, he watched in confusion as the man wrapped it around an extra time. He then stood, holding the end of the rope in his hands.

“What’re you doing!” John yelled out, his voice straining while he grew even more distressed. The thug didn’t answer, instead, punching him again, sending his head to collide against the hard ground.

John felt a fuzziness overcome him, his vision blurring as he began to lose focus.

“I think we need to shut you up.” The man took out a bandana, kneeling down beside John to force his head up. He then proceeded to tie it around his mouth, muffling John’s protests.

In the background, he could hear the continued slandering that Cornwall yelled, forgetting for a moment where he was until he heard the door of the saloon bust open.

“Please, gentlemen, this is a terrible mistake,” he heard the unmistakable voice of Dutch trying to reason as him and Arthur walked out. Their footsteps slow and calculated as John imagined they held their hands up in surrender.

John knew the bullshit that usually followed, and thought about how this time Dutch wasn’t going to talk his way out of this one. There was a tense silence in the air that followed after Dutch spoke. John waited in anticipation of what would happen next.

Sure enough, a shot fired that broke the seal of the temporary conversation between Dutch and Cornwall. John scarcely heard Arthur and him move for cover, speaking to each other in a rushed tone as they did.

“What do we do know?”

A pause as gunshots rang in the air.

“We find a way to get out of here!” Dutch hissed back to him.

“Wait, but what about Marston-”

More shots interrupt as they whizzed into the wood that the two of them hid behind.

“Come on, we need to go. Now.”

“Dutch, what about Marston?” Arthur’s voice seemed tense.

Dutch started to sound impatient as he responded, “I’m sure he left at the first sight of trouble, son, I wouldn’t be worried.”

“His horse is still here, Dutch, I don’t think-”

“Dammit, Arthur, I said don’t worry. We just gotta, we- ahh shit!”

It was audible that Dutch’s frustration was beginning to rise. His lack of control over the situation spiralling as he tried to convince Arthur to forget about John.

“Just drop it. We have to go.”

“I’m not leaving without John.”

John’s attention snapped back to the two men as he heard them laughing, distracted as he watched the one who initially punched him mount onto his horse. It took only a moment for John to realize what was happening. His eyes followed the rope secured around his legs in horror to trail up to the end held in the thug’s hand, a look of malice plastered across his face.

John desperately tried to loosen the ropes around his hands, wiggling his body from side to side. For all his efforts, he was still bound too tightly. His energy only wasted in the pointless attempt to escape.

It dawned on John just how bad the situation was turning, trying to call out for the attention of his peers not far off from where he was bound. His muffled screaming only mixed in with the chaos that surrounded them, doing him no good in the attempt.

The thug reveled in John’s struggle, eyes lit up with a wickedness as he watched him. When John thought he might burst from anticipation, the thug finally spurred his horse forward.

He violently tensed, squeezing his eyes shut as he listened to the rope unravel off the ground until there was a deafening whip, sending him hurtling across the ground.

Suddenly John’s whole world was abruptly put on its head as he was dragged through the streets of town. His eyes were still screwed shut while he tried to compact himself as tightly as he could. It did little to help the beating he received from every angle, his body only twisting around. He brought his tied hands to cover his head, trying to soften some of the blow.

Every bump and rock in the road felt like a punch to his gut or his side. What could have been minutes felt like hours as he was slowly getting beaten to a pulp.

The whole time, John couldn’t help but think of Dutch. It was almost funny, in a sick and twisted way. How this cruel situation only reminded him of what he endured from the very same man he fought for, and in turn, was being damned for. In some way he couldn’t imagine ever escaping this torture, symbolic to his life already, in a sense.

Yet John had never felt pain like this before. This was neverending.

Gunshots still rang out around him as the fight ensued, growing distant by the passing seconds as he was hauled away. His coat flailed behind him, making his shirt gradually ride up along his back and exposing his skin to the harsh terrain he was pulled along. John was sure his body was covered in cuts and bruises at this point, silently begging for it to stop.

When he thought he might finally pass out from the pain, he heard a sudden snap that made him slide a few more feet until stopping in a cloud of dust that collected around him.

He didn’t dare open his eyes yet, not believing the rope to actually be broken. John still braced himself like it would start up again any moment, curling himself into a ball.

“Fucking animals!” He heard someone yell faintly, for the blood that rushed in his ears muted the world around him. There was a sickening sound of a knife across someone’s neck, then the sputtering of their last breath.

“No! No, please, I-” The dull thud of that same knife cut off the cry of plea as John heard someone else get stabbed.

The quiet that followed somehow seemed worse than all the noise, until he heard footsteps approach him, making John tense in fear of being next.

“Hey, you’re okay now, it’s okay.” He felt arms wrap around his frail body, suddenly realizing how hard he was shaking when he jumped at the touch.

John started squirming, throwing himself around to try and escape the grasp around him.

“Nuhnnnuhnnuh,” he tried to protest through the bandana tied around his mouth. The hands that held John gently tried to steady him, until they lifted to untie the bandana.

“Hey, it’s okay! It’s me, you’re safe now!”

John finally did open his eyes when he recognized Arthur’s voice, staring up in disbelief. Arthur looked back at him, eyes full of worry as he scanned John’s face. He then quickly brought out his knife to cut the restraints around his hands and feet.

Without thinking, John threw his arms around Arthur, feeling warm tears run down his face. He held onto him so tightly while trembling uncontrollably, not caring in that moment about anything between them.

“John?” Arthur sounded surprised, but he moved his arms to hold him again.

“Come on, we need to get out of here. It’s not safe.”

John didn’t say anything, but Arthur gently lifted him up. He whistled for his horse, who came bounding towards them. But instead of going to mount Bandit, Arthur turned towards Old Boy. John didn’t notice his horse had been next to them, wondering if Arthur had gotten his horse from the saloon before coming to get him.

“This might hurt but I need you to be strong for me, alright? It’ll just take a second. We have to get moving, there’ll be more of them soon.”

John only nodded, which was enough for Arthur, placing him on the back of Old Boy. John yelled out in pain, feeling as though his muscles ripped under fragile skin from the slight movement.

“Arthur, I can’t.” John was startled by how hoarse his voice sounded, almost not recognizing it.

Arthur’s face twisted in empathy, “I know, but I need to get you out of here.” His response was shaky, John noting the way the corners of his mouth fell.

Arthur brought a hand across his face, looking around them and John knew he was thinking of what to do next.

“I can’t bring you back to camp, it’s not safe anymore…”

John started to slip off his horse, weak from the pain that threatened to make him pass out. Arthur noticed, bringing up a hand to John’s side.

“Okay, okay. I think I know somewhere we can go.” He lifted himself into the saddle, “Just hold on to me, okay? I think this man can help us, he’s always been real kind and he owes me, we can go there.”

John obediently wrapped his arms around Arthur’s waist, holding on as tight as he could.

“Come on, girl!” Arthur called over his shoulder for Bandit to follow, then clicked for Old Boy to go. The last thing John saw were the thugs from earlier lay in a pool of their own blood before he buried his face into Arthur’s back.

-

The jostling of Old Boy’s galloping proved to be an excruciating experience for John, who had to bite his tongue to keep from crying out in pain as the two escaped. It felt as though his body was a bag of broken bones being shaken around. As much effort as he put into keeping himself together, he wasn’t able to stop the tears from running down his face and dampening Arthur’s shirt.

Arthur didn’t slow his pace the whole way to wherever he was riding, making John’s eyes snap open when he finally did pull back on Old Boy’s reins.

“Whoa, boy.”

They made it to a small cabin amidst a dense forest that John wasn’t familiar with. The late afternoon sun filtering through the overcast of branches above them. John was relieved to hear nothing more than the sounds of the forest, making him feel a little bit safer.

He slowly unlatched himself from around Arthur, his joints stiff from not moving for the duration of the ride out of Valentine.

Arthur slid off the horse and reached out to get John off, too. He fell right into his grasp, bringing an arm up around his neck. Arthur cradled him closely to his chest, walking with such a delicate step that John had never thought was capable of the other man.

They approached the door to the cabin, which Arthur brought up a fist to knock against. A moment later, the door opened to reveal a man in a straw sun hat that John thought was a little on the small side.

“I’m sorry to come so unexpectedly, Mister Mason, but I’m afraid I need your help.”

The man known as Mister Mason had dark brown hair with a full beard and a kind face, looking at Arthur then to John with his brow furrowed in worry.

“Oh my! Please, come in, bring him here!”

The man motioned to a cot that he quickly tried to declutter by picking up a stack of old books left there. Arthur brought John over, softly lowering him down. A wave of exhaustion overtook him once he finally lay still. The room wouldn’t stop spinning above him, bringing up a hand to cover his eyes. Even the slight motion caused him immense pain, his muscles protesting at the strain.

His agony must have been evident, hearing Arthur’s hushed voice trying to ease him, “just take it easy now.”

John felt a hand on his shoulder, making him flinch away. Arthur’s hand reeled back, and John squinted up to see him back away slightly, his expression turning somber.

A second later, Mister Mason returned fussing over John. He could briefly hear him offering to find more pillows before Arthur interrupted him, saying something as he led the man over to the next room.

The thought of being left alone terrified John in his delicate state. And as much as he wanted to pass out from exhaustion, he didn’t think he could. His heart still hammered in his chest, even though he knew he was far away from Valentine and that those men were long dead.

It took John by surprise when he saw Arthur re-enter the room, this time without the company of Mister Mason. Instead, he held a porcelain bowl, a cloth, and a stern expression. Holding the bowl in one hand, he picked up a chair with his other to place in front of the bed John lay on in one swift motion.

“Sit up, look at me. Slowly.”

John did as he said, as difficult as it was to move.

Arthur put the bowl down on a table beside him, bringing his hand to hold John’s jaw. He held him tenderly, careful as he angled John’s face to study him.

Deeming there wasn’t anything too serious, he let out a breath and dropped his hand. He didn’t say anything as he brought out the cloth and dipped it in the bowl that was filled with water, although John could see how his expression darkened.

Bringing the damp cloth up to John’s nose, he gently cleaned the blood that had dried there. John pulled back a bit from the contact and Arthur let him. His eyes teared up again, not sure if it was from the pain or the trauma. Slowly, a tear pooled over the edge, sending a warm streak to roll down his cheek.

Arthur caught it, wiping it away, then dropped his hand and looked away from John. He suddenly felt the urge to fall into him again, to have himself be wrapped in the comfort of his arms while he cried and tried to forget. Once again he was tempted to tell him everything about Dutch, and how it was proven by his willingness to leave John behind.

But he wouldn’t.

John kept his focus on Arthur, seeing the way his jaw clenched. His eyes darting down to see Arthur’s hand squeeze into a fist.

“To think that they could’ve-”

“I’m okay.” John swallowed dryly, lip trembling as he interrupted him.

Arthur’s face contorted in anger, suddenly rising off the chair. He paced in front of John, whose eyes followed him.

“What they did to you-those fucking bastards! You could have-”

“But you were there.”

Arthur finally looked him in the eyes. John tried to muster enough energy to give him a smile, but feared it only came out broken.

Instantly, the anger melted from Arthur’s face, and he was back in the chair in front of John.

“ ‘Course I was there,” he muttered out as he brought the cloth back up to John’s face. “I wasn’t just gunna leave you.”

John dropped his gaze. Arthur still believed John had left him all those years ago, and despite it all, here he was. When John was convinced time and time again that Arthur would leave him to rot because of what he had done, only to be proven wrong. Against Dutch’s will, who would happily be rid of him. Even against his own word of admitting he felt nothing for John. It begged the question, why? Why didn’t he leave him?

The question sat on the tip of his tongue, but he didn’t dare ask it. Too afraid of what Arthur’s response might be.

“Jesus, what have they done to you,” he said it under his breath, yet it was enough to make John’s throat tighten.

With the blood from his nose now clean, Arthur moved to wash over a cut on his cheek where the stitches came loose. The two sat in silence for the remainder of the time Arthur spent cleaning him up. All the while, John studied him. The way his face was all screwed up in concentration.

Their faces were so close, he could count every one of Arthur’s eyelashes. He wanted to focus on every inch of his face, but couldn’t make himself look away from his eyes. How John was so close he could see the way they turned from a deep blue at the edges to pool into a turquoise that split so drastically to vibrant green it made him wonder how so much colour could be contained within them.

John found himself getting lost there, and all the memories they once held. An uneasy feeling set itself in the pit of his stomach that John couldn’t describe any other way than…homesick.

When had they become such strangers? He used to look into those eyes daily and now he couldn’t help but wonder when had he forgotten every single detail of his face? Or the new scar he got across his mouth that somehow complimented his features even more? When did he stop looking at the person in front of him and have the joy he felt replaced by a sickening dread and reminder of the worst mistake he had ever made in his life. John knew when, but somehow it never really set in.

Years with this space between them yet John could swear they were only kids yesterday. And now the severity of it overwhelmed him, and he suddenly wasn’t crying from the events from earlier that day.

“Hey, hey,” Arthur’s voice brought him back to reality, he spoke so painfully soft that it only made John want to cry harder.

“You’re gunna be fine, you just need to rest now. You must be exhausted.”

He was, even if that’s not the reason he was so emotional at that moment. But Arthur was right, John felt his eyelids growing heavy. Tired now that the adrenaline from his fear had worn off and so emotionally drained that sleep was about the only thing he could really handle now.

“Okay.” John felt his dry lips form the word but couldn’t recognize the voice which spoke it.

The time it took for him to lay down and close his eyes was lost to him as he instantly fell asleep. So deep fell his unconsciousness that he wasn’t even frequented by the nightmares of Nico, only subjected to a blackened slumber in its place.

-

The smell of stew cooking hit John before he fully woke. His eyes fluttered open, taking in the room he lay in properly now.

The cabin was small and cozy, the walls covered in framed photographs ranging from failed family portraits to wildlife and even some self portraits in various different locations. There were maps, too, that scattered across any surface in the room, with quickly written notes sprawled across them.

Half empty cups of tea were left long forgotten on top of stacked books and papers that made their way to the floor. Photography equipment lay haphazardly in any of the free space left over, making the whole room a museum of oddities.

From the little that John perceived, the place suited Mister Mason’s character perfectly.

“The golden boy arises,” Arthur came into the room with a bowl of stew in his hands, offering it to John.

John took his time sitting up, still sore, “don’t feel too golden at the moment.” He took the bowl gratefully from his hands, “thanks.” His mouth watered just from the smell, ravenous as he shoveled down the contents.

He could feel Arthur’s eyes on him, but didn’t care as he slurped the remainder of the stew down with just the bowl to his lips.

When he lowered the bowl he could see Arthur trying to hide a look of amusement as he sat down in a chair set up across from him.

“What?”

Arthur shook his head, “nothin’. Just glad you’re feeling better. You look like a damn raccoon eatin’ that.”

John gave a laugh, “yeah, well, I do feel a lot better.”

There was a pause, then John looked over at Arthur, “thanks for uh, getting me out of there.”

Arthur gave a nod, dropping his gaze to the floor, “sure, yeah.”

Another uncomfortable silence followed. John wanted to say more, but couldn’t think of exactly what.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t get you more, uh… more cleaned up,” Arthur cleared his throat while John was sure he could see his cheeks growing slightly red. “I didn’t want to disturb you or anything while you were restin’… or anything…”

John looked to the same tattered shirt he was wearing from the day before, the fabric torn and stained all over. “Oh, yeah, no worries,” he was secretly grateful Arthur didn’t get the chance to.

“Albert said he was gunna get a bath ready for you, so, there’s that.” Arthur rubbed the side of his neck awkwardly. It was something John hadn’t seen him do in a long time, almost bringing a smile to his lips.

A loud crash sounded from the entrance to the room they sat in, making both their heads snap in the direction. Albert had stumbled in, almost tripping over the leg of a tripod.

“Don’t mind me,” he gave a small chuckle, “silly me, didn’t mean to disturb the two of you.”

“No, not at all,” Arthur wore a look of relief.

“Oh, good!” He took a few cautious steps toward John. “Your warm bath is awaiting you, sir,” he gave the smallest of bows, wearing a timid smile on his face.

John blinked, “uh, thank you, that’s really kind-”

“Oh, shoot! I made you a cup of tea, as well! Apologies, one moment, I knew I forgot something,” Albert quickly retreated back to the room he’d come from, leaving the two alone once more.

“He’s one strange fellow,” John said, looking over to Arthur with a laugh.

Arthur returned it, “yeah, but his heart’s in the right place.”

He then stood from his chair. “I think it’s time to go back to camp, let everyone know that we're okay. I’m sure it’s a complete shit show with what happened with Cornwall, I’ll be expecting them to be halfway packed up and ready to move by now.”

John nodded, Arthur continuing, “you should stay here, there’s no point for you to come back while you’re like this.”

John opened his mouth to protest, but Arthur spoke before he could, “I’ll tell Abigail you’re okay, don’t worry. And as soon as we're settled into our new place I’ll send someone to come get you.”

That wasn’t the reason John was going to say something, and a small part of him believed that Arthur knew it, too. He wanted to go with Arthur, or more so he wanted Arthur to stay. But how could he ask that of him? When he knew that Arthur was right. They needed him, as much as John secretly wanted to need him, too.

So John stayed silent, only watching as Arthur grabbed his hat and coat from beside him and went to go see Albert.

He lingered at the doorway for a moment, “I know you’ve come to depend on me quite a bit for saving your ass so many times now but, try not to die while I’m gone,” Arthur shot him a genuine smile, making John incapable of a response.

He moved to the other room, where John could hear him thanking Albert for everything he’d done. The sound of the door opening followed, and then he was gone.

John didn’t move, lost in thought of everything that transpired and what it meant until Albert’s head popped into the room.  “Your bath, Mister Marston?”

John blinked back to the present, focusing on Albert. “Right, yes.”

With slow rendered movement, he stood and followed Albert toward the bath room. The man held the door open, John thanking him while he slipped inside. Once alone, he started undressing. He was careful removing his shirt, having to peel it from his skin from the blood that glued it there.

When he managed to remove his shirt, he discarded it to the floor, gently removing the rest of his clothing before lowering himself into the tub full of water.

He sunk right in, exhaling in relief as he did. The water was the perfect temperature, easing his aching muscles instantly. Letting his head rest against the end of the tub, he closed his eyes and let himself relax.

After letting himself soak for much longer than he needed to, he reluctantly stood and exited the bath. He took the time to dry himself off, still struggling in his movements to do so. He then picked up his pants, sliding them on.

Looking over at his shirt, his nose wrinkled. He thought it a shame to ruin the intention of his bath by putting it back on. Walking over to pick it up, he became distracted as something caught his attention from the corner of his eye.

Opposite of him faced a mirror, which John was surprised to catch his reflection in. He could’ve sworn it was someone else for a moment, not being able to recognize himself from just how beaten up and bruised he looked.

He wore a newly acquired black eye, with scrapes circling his features. His scars looked as prominent as ever, with their stitches coming loose from the aggravation they’d endured.

He wondered how Arthur saw him when he had cleaned him up the day before, and if he could even see what was left of John there anymore. God knows John didn’t.

His mind briefly thought back to their interaction from last night, his breath catching in his lungs. The image of Arthur’s concerned look for him dissolved as the rap of knuckles sounded against the bath room door.

“Apologies for the intrusion, Mister Marston. I left you some fresh clothes on the chair adjacent the mirror, if you’d like them.”

John looked behind him, sure enough seeing a stack of neatly folded clothes. He gingerly picked up a red with white stripes collared shirt.

Upon inspecting the pants, he decided on sticking with his own. The ones Albert provided were a little too pompous for the likes of John, knowing he would be the laughing stock of camp if he returned wearing them.

He finished buttoning up his shirt, tucking it in his pants and bringing a fresh pair of suspenders to sit on his shoulders. Leaving the room, he found Albert back in the space he woke up in that morning.

“Thank you, Mister Mason, for everything. You’ve been more than generous.”

Albert waved it off, “oh, it’s of no bother. Besides, you should be thanking your friend, Mister Morgan. He wouldn’t leave your side the whole night, even went out to catch some food to cook up this morning. I merely provided a place where you might rest your bones, is all.”

John’s eyebrows rose at Albert’s words. He was surprised, and almost a little embarrassed at the thought of Arthur keeping him company while he slept.

“He is a good man, you know, what he did for you. A good fellow.”

“Yeah…” John agreed with him. “I probably would’ve been dead if it weren’t for him.”

John looked down, a little in shame of himself, “he’s a better man than me.”

He’d said it more to himself than Albert, but the other man gave a stern shake of his head, “oh, I’m sure that’s not true!”

John gave a little laugh, though it was filled with spite, “I can assure you, I do not deserve the kindness he showed me by bringing me here. Nor that of yours, Mister Mason.”

“Nonsense! What makes you less deserving than any other man out there? I may not know you very well but I know a good soul when I see one. And I am confident enough to see it in our dear friend Mister Morgan, too. So him bringing you here out of care must count for something, no?”

John shook his head, “I’m afraid what we share is… more of an obligation toward one another as part of a, uh, much larger family.”

Albert didn’t look convinced, “if you say so, Mister Marston.”

“Please,” John gave him a smile, “John’s just fine. I’m not much for formalities, I’m afraid.”

Albert returned the gesture, revealing a wide smile that stretched across his face, “then Albert’s just fine, too.”

“Now, onto more important things. Would you like a cup of tea? Or are you hungry? You’re more than welcome to something more to eat, or perhaps if you’d like to rest more. I could always-”

“Albert,” John interjected, making him stop mid ramble. “I can assure you, I’m just fine.”

Albert wore a look of relief, and John couldn’t help but feel his appreciation grow for the other man at his visible concern for him.

“Well then,” Albert thought for a moment, his eyes scanning around the room before landing back on John.

“Do you like photography, John?”

[squidproquoclarice]

You've made your thoughts on John's redemption only really being able to end as it did clear. What, then, is your take on Ross, the agent of that retributive justice? A deeply unpleasant man by any lights, all right, but does he cross the line into outright villainy or not?

Good Golly Miss Molly, I love this Ask.  Buckle up, because this is going to become a longer meta, since I feel like I need to rewind for the context to properly answer the question.

A quick note: I think if Ross hadn’t double-crossed him, John would have been on a restorative justice path after RDR1.  He’s finally figuring out that it’s not enough to stop doing bad things, and I think he would have done more good, given more time.  FWIW, Zuko from Avatar: The Last Airbender is one of the best restorative justice character arcs I can think of to cite as an example.

I love what RDR2 did by choosing to go for Pinkertons rather than the somewhat blandly nondescript “Bureau of Investigation” from RDR1.  The historical context of the Pinkertons is excellently used.  For RDR2 fans, I’m writing a season 3-as-fic for the ex-NBC TV show “Timeless”, and coincidentally, I wrote an episode (3x05: Addams Family Values) set in 1893 Chicago that explores the cooperation and competition at that time between the methodology of anarchy and socialism in achieving rights for the downtrodden, the workers’ rights movement, social work, and the role of the Pinkerton Detective Agency having transformed through the 1870s-1920s from an agency that proudly foiled an 1861 assassination attempt on Lincoln into notorious private guns-for-hire frequently hired by wealthy industrialists and turned against union activists, labor agitators, etc.  And they were accountable to those men for results, sometimes to violent and extreme ends.

Which is why it’s great use of historical context in RDR2 for Leviticus Cornwall, a Gilded Age plutocrat, to have turned to the Pinkertons to chase down these criminals who’ve robbed his train, and who are already on federal radar due to the Blackwater Massacre.  And that’s why Arthur, raised as something of an anarchosocialist, (I’d argue the gang becomes fully and violently anarchic, while Arthur goes more towards full socialist) snarling “You enjoy being a rich man’s toy, do you?” at Milton is historically note-perfect.  In Arthur’s lifetime, Pinkertons have become exactly that–rich men’s toy soldiers, hired so those men could keep the deck ridiculously stacked in their favor.  Of course he would hold that in contempt.

So now we’ve got Andrew Milton, presented as the senior agent in charge, and Edgar Ross, his junior partner.  Yes, Milton is a fucking annoying self-righteous blowhard, but up to a certain point in the game, he’s actually not in the wrong.  He’s technically being paid by Cornwall, but he’s pursuing dangerous criminals utilizing increasingly violent means.  People are getting hurt and it has to stop.  These insane assholes even have a four-year-old child who’s at risk.  So he tries non-violent means first.  He tries to woo Arthur with an offer of amnesty.  He tries to get the gang to give Dutch up.  All in all, he’s not pleasant, and his smugness about “putting down” Mac Callender is in no way admirable, but he’s doing his job more or less responsibly, as is Ross under his command.It’s in Chapter 4 Milton crosses the moral event horizon.  Hosea is very clearly captured, disarmed, and is absolutely no threat to anyone at that point..  I can see using Hosea’s capture as leverage to try to force Dutch’s surrender, but at the end of the day, a just and responsible law officer would have sent him to prison.  Instead, Milton coldly executes him, to prove to Dutch that he’ll either surrender or die.  He makes Hosea his declaration of total war.  And it’s at that point he loses claim to righteousness.  He’ll do anything, no matter how dirty, to get the job done, because he considers the result far more important than being better than the people he’s pursuing.  So he kidnaps Abigail, and is in turn killed by her.  In the end, Milton was savage, and he died savagely.

Ross learned that lesson from Milton, and accepted it.  We will do whatever it takes to get the job done.  And Milton’s been killed by this pursuit, so Ross has to finish it and make it count.  Dutch lost his top two men–Hosea was killed, and Arthur died (or, you know, “died” and escaped to Mexico, but whatever)–but the man himself survived.  And as we see in RDR1, in 1911 Dutch is still very dangerous, because he’s learned nothing.  He’s up to his same old shit of recruiting angry and disaffected young men, and after what we saw with how badly he used Eagle Flies, what he has going in Cochinay with young native men is even more painfully offensive.So Ross feels honor-bound to bring Dutch down.  He founds the Bureau of Investigation, seemingly for the sole purpose of chasing down gang members.  He finds John Marston.  And his capturing John for past crimes would have been understandable.  Trying to convince him to help get Bill, Javier, and Dutch would be as well, in return for some mercy or amnesty.  But kidnapping Abigail and Jack and forcing John to cooperate for their safety is absolutely “dirty cop” behavior.  Killing John after it’s all over solely to cover his tracks so his sins won’t be found out is even worse.  He’s gone even lower morally than Milton did, trying to tell himself that the ends justify the means, that he’s righteous when he’s really pretty amoral.

Essentially, Milton and Ross both became full-blown villains wearing a badge.  

[walkthroughtheword]

Reading for July 20th                         Joshua 5&6

Joshua 5 “At that time YHWH said to Joshua, “Make flint knives and circumcise the Israelites again.” So, Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the Israelites at Gibeath Haaraloth.” Isaiah 55 tells us God’s ways are not our ways.  His thinking is different from ours.  And this truth is no more evident than here in Joshua 5. The army of Israel had just crossed the Jordan River across from the most heavily defended fortress in Canaan, the city of Jericho. They were in enemy territory. They marched up the plain before Jericho and encamped at Gigal, nearly on the doorstep of Jericho.  And what is YHWH’s first item of business?  Every military-aged Israeli man was circumcised!  Crazy!  You would think YHWH would have leveraged the strategic geographic advantage of the Jordan River and circumcised the guys on the EAST bank of the Jordan, before the crossing! Nope!! YHWH decided to incapacitate His entire army for over a week on the very front doorstep of Jericho!!  Had they forgotten the massacre in the city of Hamor when the men of the city were tricked into being circumcised only to be slaughtered during their convalescence by just two guys, Simeon and Levi? (Genesis 34) The place of this mass circumcision, macabrely named Gibeath Haaraloth (Foreskin Mountain), was a testament of the faith of Joshua.  He was a military leader. He certainly knew the strategic ramifications and yet he obeyed anyway, trusting in YHWH’s divine protection. Amazing!! Shifting gears.  Moving down. . . “The manna stopped the day after they ate this food from the land; there was no longer any manna for the Israelites, but that year they ate the produce of Canaan.” Joshua 5:12 For forty years, YHWH had miraculously provided manna from heaven to feed the wandering nation of Israel.  Once they entered the Promised Land, a land of “milk and honey,” this miracle of provision ended and YHWH provided sustenance by other means. The miracles took on a different form. This gives me a lot to think about. I am a physician who believes in the miracle-working healing power of God. I believe God and I are on the same team when it comes to the healing arts. I often pray for my patients and God does answer and people are healed. I’d love to tell you most of the healings had overt miracles attached to them, but most of the time, people respond to treatment. Ben Franklin, in Poor Richard’s Almanack (1744), opined “God heals, but the Doctor takes the Fees.” I chuckle at Ben’s tongue-in-cheek observation but he was 100% accurate. I believe God works through medicine and through the knowledge and experience I bring to the clinical situation.  But He can also heal without me and my medical knowledge. I’ve been to many developing countries and I’ve seen more “overt” healing miracles in those places (no fee-collecting MDs) and have wondered why I don’t see as much of that here. Perhaps Joshua 5 gives us a clue. Maybe we are in a “land of milk and honey” from a medical sense and God moves through medicine more than we appreciate. He heals outright but He also provides the knowledge, technology and skill for people like me to heal.  Either way and through whatever means, our God is a healing God and, as a physician, I need to remember that. Nevertheless, I’m still happy to collect the fees (grin).

Joshua 6 This is likely the most well-known event in the historical narrative of Joshua, Jericho’s walls tumbling down. It is so well-known, dramatic and given to cinematic license, I’ll not rehash it.  Suffice to say, it was a powerful opening salvo.  All of Canaan was on notice. Allow me drill down on a couple of verses: “The city and all that is in it are to be DEVOTED to YHWH. Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall be spared, because she hid the spies we sent. But keep away from the DEVOTED things, so that you will not bring about your own destruction by taking any of them. Otherwise, you will make the camp of Israel liable to destruction and bring trouble on it. All the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron are sacred to YHWH and must go into his treasury. . . They DEVOTED the city to YHWH and destroyed with the sword every living thing in it—men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep and donkeys.” Joshua 6:17-19,21 (emphasis mine)

The word “devoted” was used three times here and deserves special attention.  Grasping this word  is essential to understanding the Israeli conquest of Caanan with the appropriate context. The Hebrew word for “devoted” is “herem” and is used throughout Joshua and other places in the Old Testament. It often translated as “destroyed” or “utterly destroyed.” In Leviticus 27, the NIV simply translates “herem” as “dedicates” referring to property pledged to YHWH. “Herem” simply means “something designated ineligible for human use” or something reserved solely for YHWH. When referring to people devoted or herem, the idea here is YHWH is commanding Israel not to take any person captive (either as slave or wife) which had been customary in the ancient Near East. These people were off-limits. Conquered peoples were worth much more alive than dead (as slaves and/or wives) but this was not YHWH’s plan.  Either the Canaanites must be driven out of the city (and Canaan at large) ahead of the advancing Israeli armies or, if they resisted, then they would be killed.  This was YHWH’s way of increasing the chances Israel would remain holy and less likely corrupted by Canaanite culture and idolatry. The devoted (herem) animals were essentially sacrifices to YHWH and the precious metals were devoted (herem) to the temple  treasury.  The price of offending this herem command, as we will see in Chapter 7, was severe.

It is interesting the only inhabitants of Jericho to escape the devotion (herem) were Rahab and her family. Rahab subsequently married a Hebrew man, giving birth to Boaz, eventually leading to the birth of Jesus.  The Canaanite prostitute who escaped herem was a foremother of Jesus!  The genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1 makes special mention of her and several other women which was uncharacteristic of ancient Near East genealogies.  Usually just the guys were mentioned.  You’d think if Matthew was compelled to mention women, he would have mentioned Sarah, Rebekah or Leah but Matthew made a special effort to list tainted women, all social outcasts. First there was Tamar, the lady who tricked her father-in-law Judah into impregnating her.  Then there was the Canaanite prostitute Rahab. Shortly thereafter, the despised Moabite, Ruth.  Next, the adulteress, Bathsheba. And lastly, the unwed pregnant teen, Mary. What was Matthew’s point here?  I believe it underscores the importance that the legitimacy of the Kingship of Jesus was not beholden to an unadulterated bloodline, grounded and anchored in the good works and uprightness of men but rather the lineage of Jesus showcased His grace and redemption. YHWH loves broken people. I’m thankful for that. More about “herem” tomorrow.

[maximuswolf]

How to handle mountain of cognitive dissonance? via /r/atheism

How to handle mountain of cognitive dissonance?

I debated this with a religious guy on FB, on the discrimination of gays/trans/lesbians in church’s in Norway. Norway is a Christian country but in practice it’s one of the more atheist countries in the world. So some churches allow gays to get married in church, some don’t. They are allowed, but it is not mandatory to wed same gender couples in Norwegian church’s. My opinion is that since church’s and mosques (and so on) receive some state funding, they should not be allowed to discriminate against the LGBTQ, and should they do so, lose all or some of their funding. Church’s and religious organizations do both good and bad, but I am not above leveraging the money against them to improve people’s lives. I asked him how he felt about wearing both wool and cotton clothing since that also is a bad thing in the Bible. (Ref. Deuteronomy and Leviticus). It’s one of the dumbest things in the Bible there is, so why should that not be taken seriously when being anti-LGBTQ is? He hinted at the Old Testament only applies to Jews, but would not take a firm stance on his position when asked on it. He just started deflecting, coming out with Bible text and changing the topic. I called him out for not acknowledging how dumb the cotton-wool rule at the same time being seriously anti LBGQT.

How do you handle mountain of cognitive dissonance people have? It’s impossible to reason with some people. Maybe went about it in the wrong way - any different angles I should be doing this in? I was civil for very long, and so was he, well, up until blasphemy was brought up and I asked if he was offended that I made fun of his invisible friend (God).

Submitted February 01, 2021 at 04:43AM by SatanIsMyBaby via reddit https://ift.tt/36wlayT

[comebeforegod]

The Origins of the Appellation “the Lamb of God”

By Wuyan

It is recorded in the Bible, “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin” (Rom 8:3).

 From these verses we know that, in order to redeem us mankind from sin, the Lord Jesus was nailed to the cross as mankind’s eternal sin offering. And since then, we all call Him the redeeming Lamb. But do you know the profound meaning behind this appellation?

To figure out this question, we should first know what sin offering means. Let’s look at Leviticus 4:27-31, “And if any one of the common people sin through ignorance, while he does somewhat against any of the commandments of Jehovah concerning things which ought not to be done, and be guilty; Or if his sin, which he has sinned, come to his knowledge: then he shall bring his offering, a kid of the goats, a female without blemish, for his sin which he has sinned. And he shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering, and slay the sin offering in the place of the burnt offering. And the priest shall take of the blood thereof with his finger, and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and shall pour out all the blood thereof at the bottom of the altar. And he shall take away all the fat thereof, as the fat is taken away from off the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall burn it on the altar for a sweet smell to Jehovah; and the priest shall make an atonement for him, and it shall be forgiven him,” and Leviticus 16:30-31, “For on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that you may be clean from all your sins before Jehovah. It shall be a sabbath of rest to you, and you shall afflict your souls, by a statute for ever.”

After the Israelites got out of Egypt, Jehovah God set forth laws through Moses for them to obey, and in this way led them to live on earth. Whoever could abide by these laws would gain God’s blessings. However, because of man’s corrupt nature, they were unable to uphold the law and thus faced the danger of being stoned to death. Only if they made sin offerings could they expiate their sins and avoid being condemned and sentenced to death by the laws. Anyone familiar with the Old Testament knows that in the Age of Law the tenth day of the seventh month was the day of atonement for the Israelites every year. At that feast, all the people had to offer the firstborn cattle and sheep without blemish upon the altar as sin offerings, in order that their uncleanness and transgressions in the year could be purified. From this we can see, in the Age of Law Jehovah God used the blood of cattle and sheep as the evidence of His cleansing man’s sins. Through the sin offerings they made, people at that time would no longer be condemned by the laws and instead were qualified to come before Jehovah God, praying to Him for His blessings and care.

However, at the end of the Age of Law, the people of Israel were increasingly unable to keep the laws and they committed more and more sins, to the extent that Jehovah God’s laws could no longer achieve the desired results in them. The Holy Spirit detested them because their hearts had become depraved without the slightest reverence toward God. In Isaiah 1:11-15, God said through the prophet Isaiah, “To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to me? said Jehovah: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats. When you come to appear before me, who has required this at your hand, to tread my courts? Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination to me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates: they are a trouble to me; I am weary to bear them. And when you spread forth your hands, I will hide my eyes from you: yes, when you make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.”

From these verses we can see, the corruption of people at that time had reached a certain point, for which Jehovah God was angry with them and rebuked them. According to God’s righteousness, if they went on like this, they would die by God’s curses, and then the creation of humanity would have been for naught. At that time, the people of Israel were full of sins and lived amid sin from which they could not free themselves. So they earnestly prayed and cried out to God. Then God granted them a promise, a promise that the Israelites could receive an eternal sin offering. Therefore, because of the needs of corrupt mankind and also according to His management plan, God was incarnated among man as the redeeming Lamb to take on their sins and relieve them from the curses of the law. God long ago prophesied through the prophet Isaiah, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and Jehovah has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he opens not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased Jehovah to bruise him; he has put him to grief: when you shall make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of Jehovah shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he has poured out his soul to death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors” (Isa 53:6-12).

When God incarnate came to work, John the Baptist bore witness that the Lord Jesus was the redeeming Lamb, just as it says in John 1:29, “Behold the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world.”

The Lord Jesus worked among man for three and a half years, during which time He healed the sick, cast out demons, performed miracles and wonders, and bestowed rich blessings upon mankind; He tolerated and forgave man, and in the end was crucified as the sin offering for mankind; He completed the work of redeeming mankind. It can be seen from the work of the Lord Jesus that, He saved those who lived under the law, and satisfied their wish of receiving an offering sufficient to atone for their sins. After His crucifixion, man no longer needed to make sin offerings and had only to accept the Lord Jesus as their Savior for their sins to be forgiven. In this way, the sins of man were no longer a barrier to his coming before God and were no longer the leverage by which Satan accused man. Because of this, the people of Israel, who had been living under the law, could walk away from the laws and were qualified to come before the Lord Jesus, praying for His pardon and grace, and thus mankind could continue to exist and have developed until this day. From all of this, we can appreciate that there is profound significance behind the Lord Jesus being called the redeeming Lamb.

God’s words say, “In order to complete His work and rescue humanity from misery, He had to be condemned by man, and bear the sins of all mankind. The extent of the suffering He went through cannot possibly be fathomed or appreciated by ordinary people. What does this suffering represent? It represents God’s devotion to humankind. It stands for the humiliation He suffered and the price He paid for man’s salvation, to redeem their sins, and to complete this stage of His work. It also means man would be redeemed from the cross by God. This is a price paid in blood, in life, a price created beings cannot afford.”

“Even though He Himself knew that the responsibility He needed to take on in the flesh was so immense, and how cruel the pain He would face would be, when He saw mankind helpless in sin, when He saw the wretchedness of their lives and their feeble struggles under the law, He felt more and more grief, and became more and more anxious to save mankind from sin. No matter what kind of difficulties He would face or what kind of pain He would suffer, He became more and more resolute to redeem mankind living in sin. During this process, you could say that the Lord Jesus began to understand more and more clearly the work He needed to do and what He had been entrusted with. He also became increasingly eager to complete the work He was to take on—to take on all of mankind’s sins, to atone for mankind so that they no longer lived in sin and God would be able to forget man’s sins because of the sin offering, allowing Him to further His work of saving mankind. It could be said that in the Lord Jesus’ heart, He was willing to offer Himself up for mankind, to sacrifice Himself. He was also willing to act as a sin offering, to be nailed to the cross, and He was eager to complete this work. When He saw the miserable conditions of human’s lives, He wanted even more to fulfill His mission as quickly as possible, without the delay of a single minute or second. When He had such a feeling of urgency, He was not thinking of how great His own pain would be, nor did He think any longer of how much humiliation He would have to endure—He held just one conviction in His heart: As long as He offered up Himself, as long as He was nailed to the cross as a sin offering, God’s will would be carried out and He would be able to commence new work. Mankind’s lives in sin, their state of existing in sin would be completely changed. His conviction and what He was determined to do were related to saving man, and He had only one objective: to do God’s will, so that He could successfully begin the next stage in His work.”

From these two passages of words, we can even more feel God’s true love for us mankind. The supreme God, the Creator and Master of heavens and earth and all things, became an ordinary and normal person, humbly hidden in the flesh. He had to take on work an ordinary person cannot handle, while also endure suffering that ordinary people cannot withstand. From when the Lord Jesus officially began fulfilling His ministry to the time of His being crucified, He suffered humiliation and pain in the extreme and endured the rejection and condemnation of corrupt mankind. God is holy, yet He had to live together with filthy and corrupt mankind—the suffering He endured was too great! The Lord Jesus clearly knew that the path of the cross was fraught with hardships and that He would suffer great pain both physically and spiritually. But for the sake of redeeming all mankind, He willingly offered Himself up as a sin offering and was nailed to the cross for mankind. From the redemption work of the Lord Jesus, we can come to a better understanding of the appellation “the redeeming Lamb.” Besides, the Lord Jesus’ love for mankind is not only that He redeemed mankind from sin as a sin offering, but also that He will come again in the last days to bestow upon people more truths and do the work of judgment and chastisement, through which He will completely rid us of our sins and release us from the bondage of sin. The Bible says, “I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come” (Jhn 16:12-13). “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God” (1 Pe 4:17). “Who are kept by the power of God through faith to salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Pe 1:5). From this we can see that the Lord Jesus has prepared a greater salvation for us in the last days, which is that He will come back to continue the work of saving man, expressing the truth to thoroughly save us from corruption. This is because though we have been redeemed by the Lord Jesus and had our sins absolved, our sinful nature still remains and we are still slaves to the cycle of sinning in the daytime and confessing them at night. Therefore, when the Lord Jesus comes back, He will continue saving us. Isn’t God’s love for us too great and deep?

Dear brothers and sisters, I’m sure that through such communication, we have all understood why we call the Lord Jesus the redeeming Lamb as well as the significance behind this appellation. I believe every one of you, just like me, is looking forward to the Lord’s returning to fully save us from the degenerate life of sinning by day and confessing by night, so that we can be thoroughly cleansed and changed and enter into the kingdom of heaven with God.

[automatismoateo]

Reminder that the God of the Bible is completely okay with slavery via /r/atheism

Submitted October 01, 2019 at 03:49AM by NefariousKangaroo (Via reddit https://ift.tt/2oGGr5N) Reminder that the God of the Bible is completely okay with slavery

EDIT: Friends visiting from cross-posts, please do me a favor when you upvote and do so to the original post to help more people see this message. Thanks for reading!

NOTE: All verses quoted from the NIV Bible for ease of reading. Should go without mentioning, but just in case, God is referred to in this post as the ultimate end author of the Bible as the Bible describes. We also assume God is all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-loving as the Bible also describes.

    Genesis 17:12

"For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner—those who are not your offspring."

God (see note at top of post) is clearly aware people buy and sell other people.

God appears to have no objection to this knowledge in this verse or the surrounding passage.

  Exodus 12:43-45

"The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 'These are the regulations for the Passover meal: No foreigner may eat it. Any slave you have bought may eat it after you have circumcised him, but a temporary resident or a hired worker may not eat it.'"

God (directly this time) is clearly aware people own other people as slaves.

God specifically singles out slaves here as a separate class to be treated differently.

God, the all-powerful, all-knowing, all-loving Lord, again appears to have no objection to this in the passage.

  Exodus 21:1-6

“If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you for six years. But in the seventh year, he shall go free, without paying anything. If he comes alone, he is to go free alone; but if he has a wife when he comes, she is to go with him. If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the woman and her children shall belong to her master, and only the man shall go free.

But if the servant declares, ‘I love my master and my wife and children and do not want to go free,’ then his master must take him before the judges. He shall take him to the door or the doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl. Then he will be his servant for life."

The Bible (and God by extension again) specifically outlines the way to enslave a man for life.

The Bible specifically outlines the way slaves' families are to be separated from one another if a slave wants to be freed, particularly dividing a wife with children from her husband to keep them.

If a slave wants to stay with his family, he must become a slave for life to the Master who is holding the family as leverage.

The Bible specifically outlines how to brand such a slave by ear piercing to mark him enslaved for life.

God again makes zero indication he has a problem with this.

  Exodus 21:20-21

"Anyone who beats their male or female slave with a rod must be punished if the slave dies as a direct result, but they are not to be punished if the slave recovers after a day or two, since the slave is their property."

The Bible specifically notates slaves as property, not people.

The Bible specifically pardons Masters who beat their slaves, so long as the slave recovers in a maximum of two days.

God seemingly yet again has no problem with this.

  Exodus 21:32

"If the bull gores a male or female slave, the owner must pay thirty shekels of silver to the master of the slave, and the bull is to be stoned to death."

The Bible places a monetary value on a slave life (30 shekels), re-hashing (and previously explicitly stating above) that slaves are just property and are less than people.

Once again, God has failed to appear and have a problem with this.

  Leviticus 22:10-11

"No one outside a priest’s family may eat the sacred offering, nor may the guest of a priest or his hired worker eat it. But if a priest buys a slave with money, or if slaves are born in his household, they may eat his food."

The Bible (and God by extension) demonstrates knowledge again of people owning slaves as property.

Re-iterates that a slave's children get born into slavery.

Not surprisingly, God raises no objection to this in the passage even with child slavery mentioned.

  Leviticus 25:44-46

"Your male and female slaves are to come from the nations around you; from them you may buy slaves. You may also buy some of the temporary residents living among you and members of their clans born in your country, and they will become your property. You can bequeath them to your children as inherited property and can make them slaves for life, but you must not rule over your fellow Israelites ruthlessly."

The Bible gives specific instructions on where/who to buy slaves from.

The Bible re-hashes again that slaves are specifically property.

The Bible explains how to hand down slaves as property.

God is absent again with no objection to the concept or practice of slavery.

  Luke 7:2-10

EXEMPTED FOR PURPOSES OF POST BREVITY

Jesus himself meets and interacts with a sick slave and his master. Jesus heals the master's sick slave.

Jesus unfortunately fails to ever think about freeing the slave or expressing his dissatisfaction with slavery to the master.

Jesus allows the slave to return to enslavement after healing him and leaves.

  Colossians 3:22-23

"Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to curry their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters"

The Bible seemingly approves of the institution of slavery, and actively encourages slaves to obey their masters.

The Bible commands slaves to obey everything their masters order of them.

The Bible again does absolutely nothing to stop the practice of slavery, and continues to give guidelines to facilitate it.

  Titus 2:9-10

"Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them, and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive."

The Bible again seemingly directly approves of slavery, and for the second time actively encourages slaves to obey their masters.

The Bible commands slaves to accept their position as slaves and being property, yet simultaneously wants them to love the God that on the tenth occasion has again failed to curtail slavery at all.

  Stopping here for the sake of post length. Feel free to do further reading.

[gracedman]

The Principle of Scapegoats

Leviticus 16:3–10 (AV)

Thus, shall Aaron come into the holy place: with a young bullock for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering. He shall put on the holy linen coat, and he shall have the linen breeches upon his flesh, and shall be girded with a linen girdle, and with the linen mitre shall he be attired: these are holy garments; therefore, shall he wash his flesh in water, and so put them on. And he shall take of the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering. And Aaron shall offer his bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make an atonement for himself, and for his house. And he shall take the two goats and present them before the LORD at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the LORD, and the other lot for the scapegoat. And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the LORD’S lot fell and offer him for a sin offering. But the goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness.

 On the day of the atonement, two goats are presented before the Lord. One is randomly chosen to be slain and presented as a sin offering. The other goat had its task to be the scapegoat. One died for the sins of the people. The scapegoat lived to take their sins from them into an uninhabited place in the wilderness, never to be seen again.

 Our English dictionary says this about the term “scapegoat:”

 1:   a goat upon whose head are symbolically placed the sins of the people after which he is sent into the wilderness in the biblical ceremony for Yom Kippur

2    a: one that bears the blame for others

b: one that is the object of irrational hostility

 There comes a time in every believer’s life when they must choose for themselves who their scapegoat will be. Whom is chosen will determine a great deal. Choose the wrong scapegoat and the root of bitterness will arise and perhaps defile many others. The writer of Hebrews knew this reality and warned us about it:

  Hebrews 12:15 (ESV)

See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled;

 When we don’t find God’s scapegoat for our lives, we open the door for the irrational hostility, guilt, and blame towards others. Such things are leveraged by Satanic forces to divide and destroy the expression of God’s nature within us and between us. Darkness couples with our fallen nature to play the blame game and act accordingly. Wounds result. Bruises are inflicted. And no healing is ever found from such a union with darkness. Without God’s scapegoat we would spiral down farther and farther from God’s best for our lives.

 Who do you blame for the damages done in your lives? Who is the whipping boy that you go to when the chips are down, and the hostility is fiercely raging? When the root of inner bitterness sprouts within, how do we deal with them? It can be so easy to blame the wrong scapegoat and to rant and rave about him. If it is another human being, then it is the wrong scapegoat and your bitterness will grow and increase. For no amount of telling them how they have disappointed you and hurt you will bring the remedy we all need. Releasing emotional pressure towards others is no answer. It often only compounds the problem. We must find God’s scapegoat.

 God has a scapegoat for us in his son, the Lord Jesus Christ. He not only died for our sins, but he also will take them far from us to a place that is uninhabited. Isaiah and the Apostle John shared with us this reality:

  Isaiah 53:6 (ESV)

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

   John 1:29 (ESV)

The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

 Jesus Christ has lifted up and carried the sins of the whole world from before God, the Father. He has taken them and removed them as far as the east is from the west. God says that he has cast them behind his back and will not remember them ever again. They have been put in an uninhabited place, such as the depth of the deepest sea. “The Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” There is both forgiveness and divine forgetfulness for us all who will just receive this gift of marvelous grace and not fail to have it appropriated to our lives.

 Won’t you take him as your scapegoat? Won’t you recognize that he will take from your experience all iniquity. All sin and all the works of darkness as well? I beg you to surrender to the invasion of grace and mercy and not to the root of bitterness. May God help us all.

  Lord Jesus, we need your mercy to keep us from fainting, floundering and failing. We need your strengthening grace to empower us to continue to love, lay down our lives, and be all that you would have us to be. Show us how. Teach us to live free indeed. Amen!!!

[rwmhunt]

Leviticus, Chapter 22

1. Lo, for That I cannot prosecute my thoughts; I needst here cultivate caution- Then put a hold unto my options, That I cannot challenge him. Any source of information, That be of an admixture truth, And of an admixture untruth, is of a danger, Did you know that? Humbly needst I move toward diamonds and gold's Otherwise-useless demarkation on worth; My face must stay its specter in clay, For it is my career; That I can say: It is mine.

2. Thus, to Aaron, gold and diamonds Bringeth ignominy and unwarranted power; Strewth, they are only much use for The rings of your finger; So let alone the past, Which you mark As a messed up place, How then, is this the valid Strategy for the future? Lo, let us divide and game.

3. Increase the paywall; Holy things are ringing in changes; You are the visitor here- I'd like to take the time To consciously consider you so, for We have reached besmircher's cutoff. It's me, mark it; and Either I am a negative nebulae Of unimaginable everything, And you are a little golden bull, Or you are a negative nebulae Of unimaginable everything, And I am a little golden bull;

4. But know that I shall not give you the word For the thought-track down which You might draw the line Of asymetry, such, That you wouldst know How to rend a perfect opposition To go between. And whosoever soweth dead seeds Among young female researchers Hath faileth the épreuve- It shalln’t do for thy running issue, Moreover, those women who are of Quite senior position and are doing it Unto the coercive nature of such a power's New destruction of ability to focus, As unto the camp's commander, With how Peleg begat Reu; Well, it might be enough to get you pregnant, But wait, where am I going with this?

5. Worm touchers, Creepy pressers, Come, come, observers, Keep from that strange creature; Don't be giving unto me None of thy screaming abdabs; I think on you, Pig dressed as a clown, Eructing unto, then drawing forth A near-entire white, plastic fork; And know you not how this came to me- Lo, it came up with a sequence of items that appeared Not unlike balls of meat, Furred, wistfully, in a grey cowl of reactionary mucus; A kind of veil, a barrier, in effect, Penetratable, at any point, But equally real as a barrier, Gainst our otherwise passive environs, Such as be the diffusion of inert thoughts, or spores, murky, and maintaining of a human resource, I liked to thrill it- The direct and immediate livid relationship Between a font of funding and a media event, O, harmless dalliance of the stationary cupboard- You are knowingly walking, As against your will, A wrong into the carpet, Within the tent of meaning.

6. Looking up to see God's face in the moon, Or whatever it was That can't be drawn, And I won't be drawn; His hands he filled with moisture and His own was sent for ablution Into the improvised basin. So denieth all such allegation Through the washing of thy soule, Clean off; so sloughed away, Away with the diminishing liquid.

7. Sundown with the unseen Woman's leverage on the situation- if you should find a way to redress balance, So she gaineth a bit more power in some manner, Then so what? it was no loss. A new deal, And the bill shall embolden survivors.

8. Positions of power shall have of a hard time In recognizing the coercive nature of that power Within an unbridled relationship; Things that die 'Of themselves', Or are yet rent by nature's horn, Are defiled; while I, a malign influence, lie with my soul distracted; Oh lord, but I've been swallowed by narrative, And tried to keep it communal, Inside and outside; As you are.

9. Pit stop- The horror is the fact; The horror it unfolds Through legions of would-bes Without a meter, like me, Who have applied, Will apply, in perpetuity; Just do it, Or die; if then, As I am still.

10. The individual is always Hedging toward A private business model. Attention-seeking shalln't be of sin, no! Tis sensible, keep with a forward optioning- That's why i tell you, Soujerners and servents, Who art sent to the concession to collect me my messages- My tutu is a Fendi, And my codpiece is a Bosch. We live unto a roaring attention economy. But you're not up to it. I've given them a tomato one, And also I gave them a spaghetti- We struggle to attune to where I'm compelled- Ourselves, as groups, who feel of themselves As blunted against their lack in deserved attention, Because it is a powerful, a dangerous feeling.

11. So eat souls As paid for with a priest's money, On escrow, attention Has always been currency Though rendered unimaginable Since the falling-away of the gold-standard, As was borne unto the tent of meaning, Where every page has a piece carved out, To house an advert's grab For égards; No space is secure, For security hath put an advert thither.

12. Jade lock, To knock the donald offline, So unto a stranger, Gone off to scavenge, The framers that frame themselves As refuges for free-expression Shall be rent at the fringes, forcing A redirection, away from my personal kingdom.

13. But should she go prodigal, Whosoever you are, Howeverso you might express thyself, You may now have a crack at a global audience, With incentives and disproportionate benefits Offered unto the most shameless, The demand of each to pay what scarce attention Might be rendered unto others, To get some fraction of this nominally limited resource, As unto yourself alone. Such are these poor weapons, An oversharing, That, essayed to the personal, Stretcheth my nancy stories To breaking.

O Marigold, I was bad At that, in the territories of fandom, As forced to return Unto the track over and again- Such was my leaky comprehension; Only apparent to me in the afterward, And now, I cannot say I am better.

14. Whence, Enroute from the concession Shouldst be eaten of the item Without, thence, So anguished in the relish, Thou giveth a fifth Of the holy thing; So that the leg shall grow A starfish, whole . Then let us bend our dark tubers towards, And look the knot, as in at an eye-

15. What's gold and glitter, But to mock a toom, And maketh of myself A symbolic same, Wrought as an aesthetic echt; Where diplomacy is weak, The aesthetic be yet The sole portal unto The conveyance of meaning; Verily, here, that I keep within The aesthetic of thought Whereby action is always y, You are i, and The antagonist be markated x; Where holy might only Fall down to one's discretion, You should've known That I wouldst be so solid.

16. Or suffer them to bear the enquiry of trespass, Felt as an information glut, Whilst eating of their holy orders, Found relishing within the anguish, And those who want it, Want it as much as they can get it, And  there is more access than can be vaunted, For, in an attention economy, one is never not on. Yes, me. O the guilt.

17. Attention is akin to the spirit; That it be vital but conventionally invisible, And thus, think not very much upon it, But unto whom, being unable to share A simple encounter with it, Wouldst soon become an artifice of torture.

18. Tell Aaron et al ensundry, To take up of stock with sarcastic markets, Sarcastic markets and I, impunity; The sacrifice of your own will I hand you freely; or no; T'was never yours to oblate, But sacrifice thy quasi-will, As will thee, Which is mine, against The short hedge, Thus maketh me of a currency exchange.

19. And an haut stud dost thou, unto me, weasels? By your whimsically free-will sacrificing? How charmingly lame. I sense Actors at play, in a very long game Of grooming the disaffected- Call me my boys in- then Send a lie to the long deceiver, To use the ruse, in turn, like poison, For to wish you that which upon may be Enabling unto the benefit of thine enemy.

20. It's no hambone, No hobbling billy- If he tells or interferes I'll fill the well in; its Prophets in stocks and neck-irons time, Else tolerate such increasingly radical agendas Of such gleefully uninhibited platforms as Where followers might laugh At biblical memes and opine such as- 'I'd rather do drama than a play, where, You can't say, really, What you want to say.' Go long, my cowhands, go long.

21. And peace is a sacrifice Of the streaming platform, while Attention has always been currency, Same. Our abilities to pay heed are limited; Not so our abilities to theoretically receive of it; No need to adequately substantiate If you can bamboozle With all the time in the world, Ka-pow-ka, ching-ching, da-da, Badoo-daboo-baday; Trust-modesty, yay, verily. Humility is hard to sustain In an attention economy. I only see me accelerating.

22. Blind, broken, maimed; Cankered, scurvied, wan with the wen, Thus, by my lights, The fault shall be displaced, Be it cleaned or weeping, Tis a no-no, get me another. Such was The schism that fractured the donald, Sent out to extend a tortured metaphor, Became too much of a liability To be held in high office- But if the stranger doesn't come, After all the things I’ve done for him,

23. Well, it's alright for a free-will offering Which you feel compelled to go along with, But it's not good enough for a vow offering As be brought unto online-influencer culture, And it might be enough to get you pregnant But it shan't be enough to stir my interest- I require an extreme case of humility, Whereby a person giveth his all to a presence so completely selfish As to serveth no other purpose. It's me.

24. But the reality is far less complicated than Moses, Hiding his damage behind a veil of linked-up back-channels, Recoiling at what his fellow hardcore moderators attempt to oblate; Too engrossed within the tents to consider anything outwith While hoping the whole doesn’t spin out of control.

25. Corruption is in them, strangers, Bethinks, flooding an affiliated image board So thoroughly that it becometh abomination. Here increaseth the shamelessness of wanton Allegation,  terror co-option of a social platform, which struck with the rise of a reality magik-vision, Alike as came unto a mid-80s index of abundance, Shewn running away whilst attempting to make focus On the ever-deterioratingly indistinct Object of the distancing, that It’s only when, at stopping to think about it, That the understand can be ascertained as to quite how rife it is.

26. Here, he left a passing message for Those who might collectively commandeer: Abide by life; that, if, then, I wouldn't be here.

27. Debates about amplification And attention-hijacking form a Siege mentality Of the corrupted Federal Apparatus- For seven days beneath the dam, As then a fire spiralled further Toward a more outlandish means Of unconstitutional civic theatre,

28. Whereby a calfling must be made to last The night and know it's mother As having died before slaughter; So the community Moved in after it went dark, Enjoining, then modulating, then killing off, And now Your complexes are all cooked in, Deeply infringing upon the weirds of others.

29. So must you make sacrifice To your very free will, As to common patriotic causes, Or else be sieged Within the corrupt Federal Apparatus.

30. The fundamental thing is: You cant escape my attention economy; Eat everything now, For nothing shall be saved, And this same day shall be Until tomorrow; when again, it's me.

31. Lo, and you must; it's me, remember? But by now all this blood and all this law Was affecting them, as had long been within their dream, Where they have their own rules, quirks and cultures, Which they ignore at your peril; Where environments play out upon a knife-edge, And attention might simply be a lens Through which to read the events of the moment While running away.

32. Herein, power shall not be trusted To recognize affiliated abuses of power; Yet, check, however, before Redirecting such missives from my personal kingdom, For lo, there shall be nonesuch insubordination, As might mitigate against, for I shall be hallowed; Me me me me, So you;

33. Thus, I lay my notional claim Unto my servant-leadership- as bang, That brought you out of the land, Didn't it? Akhenaten to me. So Leviticus stood at The simply-inflated Size of Capitalism, To whom, hereto, On a bench they'd built Between themselves, Be here, thisway, is addressing- 'Imagine; You have been wrong For a long long time now.'

[rwmhunt]

Leviticus, Chapter 26

1. It's my training- I find With polarizing factors- In essence, they are Attentional. And lo, we're on to how pandemics End, And where I say that I find it normal To see false flags on everything. The victims Are disseminators In isolation stasis, As believers are cast into many Disparate factions- desperately seeking Their own audience and fracturing Reality in their processes. They plead the cause of a deepening iniquity As to a factor for relief, But maketh of ye here, no idols, no bones about it; And rear thee up no columns, No analogue that might measure or mock me with restraint; No feat that might inspire ye to fall, For tis ME. And all of you Need fear More Than hope Now.

2. And here Moses might only be seen In the reflected beam Of his own headlamp, As by it he travails into The little that it casts, For, tis about time we said Goodbye to Sinai, And, having toyed with the pretence, Admit that it is no place to biggeth of a home. But, let us first cut our losses With the aforementioned, spurious Sacrifice.

3. Then walk in My statutes, And in effect, I will take the lot. From Exodus through Numbers, Leviticus Shall appear in the role of Mose's malignant, Functioning as something of a priest in prototype, Here, used for example of what is otherwise superfluous.

4. Thus shall he chafe, at first, against the thing at work- Twas the people who provoked him into the begetting Of a golden idol, whence he went before them and said, - For whom does it end, and who as so doth get to decide? I'll give ye the reigns to such a season as they be deigned for, And hence hath he tapped into some rural frustration, By atleast pretending to pay an attention Unto those who'd’ve had it That they were deserving of an attention, And hitherto presuming That they were getting not of it, Because it was a given that it be going unto others.

5. And, warming- Threshing Shall verily reach unto the vintage, No timescale shall lie upon our dessert, And thence, that it should there suffice And be so furthered of a surfeit also- Sick and tired of winning. There’s an uncertainty about the path That goeth forward, which was always there, But masked By Mose's exceptional approaches from god, With troubling things to report From the frontiers of the rhyzome As dictated by him from a distance; Be it tented or from way up on Sanai. More to the point, with Aaron found in a position Where the idol he created is out of his control, Mose is perhaps more eager now than ever To retain his grip on the base, so To the top of the Mountain, where he again Is lolling with a god who has legacy to defend, And from where he’s tolled upon the god, Who now hath a record of statutes Which need be ramified over time to maintain The same supplication from the base hereunto- By a means that looks increasingly precarious;

6. And still he blew- I can cause evil beasts to cease your path, And slope away, out from the land, So be it a safe space for thinking, yet, Even before Mose had left Egypt, Aaron was charting a course that would bring his horn to clash In conflict with the legacy his brother hath sought As that from up on the mountain. - He, without standing- Made Manifest Destiny As Aboriginal Calamity; Lo, that He should speaketh Only through ol' measly Mose, It’s sick. It’s a sick joke- that’s what it is, And it’s not a joke as far as I’m concerned, It's April the first.

7. And Mose, as responding to winds only when forced to, Is always leveraging to give away the wiggle room For people to interpret his position however they would. He’ll say things vaguely enough to send one message Unto his base while maintaining deniability when questioned By Dr Moloch, with, - we were able to pivot, _, But here, defending himself publicly against his former compatriots, Who had criticized him as a “rogue” and a selfish coward- And of Denver Riggleman hath he chastened as an enemy unto the good, That he shall fall before you as from a sword; where swords believe not... Because sometimes a little bloodletting...

And he trails off...

8. But, as marketing hath recently divined unto Me, In allowance that there shouldst be For a different kind of people to be present at storytelling- The national need for experts in critical languages and other regions- Go thither - that it shouldst not always be Mose, As effective a spokesperson as he fairly is- - We wouldst be able to pivot, deep Into a different frontal cortex and through The past year, shew how powerful our mind could have been, So Denver giveth five of you wriggle room to chase a hundred, And a hundred of you are now chastening of ten thousand; As so shall I up thee thy ante, And my enemies will fall before you as by a sword, For I thought it funny- that there could be no room For anybody who should come As would be so dumb as to think it real, But, lo... it's complicated. When ideas are swords, there broods a tribal metaphor, Absorbing the recondite and thus blooming the tribe, trained To a stream of algorithmy on a fact-immune, ignorant, Analytic white paper.

9. Lo, and compliant with the photograph, I shall have respect as unto you, And make a fruitful of you, and multiply the effect of you; And shall establish My covenant as parley with you; However, with you there, shall I stop- And if you shouldst know of an influencer, That goeth as amongst you, It is upon you, to cut them off, And cast them from the convention, To leave them afloat In the void of their influence; Know me, you are not missing out. And they looked at each other

10. And carried on through A buildingsite for hackers, unto The streaming platforms, as linkethed up Among these sealed back channels, deep In amid online influencer culture, As aideth escape from our antibodies Who deeply infringe into the working of others, Which I see no incentive in trying to dispel, Saying- ye shall eat old-store pottage long kept, And ye shall bring forth such vintage from before the new; The seed shall be my seed and my seed only; me a monothe, find There are plenty of such who want this pandemic to continue; - 'Exactly.' ...But it's not us. - 'Exactly. Thanks to you, Dr Moloch.' And away I rode As quick as I could.

11. Lockdown is as a low gloss and of loss- Gratitude, thank you, thank you, 80 neg 95 from the day before, My soule shall not abhor you In these toxic patterns thrash, For even though there's darkness, Let it be as such that is found exhilarating; For there's nothing like a sword to save us.

12. I will walk among you, And lo will I figure the triggers That allow keeping it alive in a tiny form. A worldly preserve from a range of exotic, begotten In order to find what goes on in the yard; As without ever leaving The bold tent of meaning, Where the project itself shall take care of me. I must not run out; The shelf of ideas must not be let empty.

13. When people ask, ‘When will this end?,’ They are asking about the social conclusion, Where the real answer Is very close To the wrong answer. But you’ve all been doing it, in various ways, And that's evinced as an important reminder Of what we are yet culpable for. Go upright- the answer Affects us all; Differently.

14. But! lo, A better question might be About the so-called-end, Dr. Moloch, he sayeth, - For withdrawal Is a-talkin' 'bout affect- Oh, pay no attention to changes.

15. If, enervated in heat, Wounded with guilts, Stained with sins, An image without a caption, so advanced That all she could offer were comfort care; An hour later, declare the epidemic as so over- Here, as memories are going to be difficult to archive; For the seed hath been sewn by the hackers, Where hackers had shewn a new level of stealth, For they had bade a solitary star, As softly warn on solar winds, To infiltrate networks, take The footprint far, far from Babylon, Raise columns and fresh idols- With such malware attached As may still be working.

16. Then I will appoint terror, same, Death be a-killing people- Catenated, then moderated, then killed off: Lost in the entropics of cancer That so maketh the eye to fail And the soul to languish; Thus, this incident with the Golden Calf , The incident as so nearly brought God To deracinate intrigue, where nobody new Walked in on our room for all our wide length of time; Who- who would escape the crime for a role in the affair ? Aaron was not the teflon idol-maker his resilience, Built, as of an impossible Self-reliance, should determine him to be; Aaron is eroding. And he shall sow your seed in vain, For my enemies shall maketh a relish of it; Then needst I seek for your polluted replacement; Catenated, then moderated, then killed off: The human condition shall not save itself, Ellis said; I find it normal.

17. We are told to use a common inference to decide Whether an aggadah be taken as lateral or vertical; And once you've come to smelt the rood, Drempt of the chundering of swords, Quietly dumped the lot that was- The wild dream, thus superseded With a totem dream- you turn, bearing An unforgotten, felt as a missing, As so make you up to grab of it back- Loss.

18. The calvary the calvary- To characterize this away from me, If amorality be light years over the sky-effort of casting an opinion onto everything, As all be bedraggled before the judgment Of its own rhyzomic scruples, Then I'm not passing nothing; I don’t do horses, ok, Should the fox be all of one beast You me, as the cavalry Charge Decidedly, then seven times worse- Know of our own action, a fiction; I wouldn't say we'd be comfortable In the skin of it today, or ever. If.

19. And I will bust the pith of your power; And I will glove your heaven with iron, And your earth will be rung like brass. Why not? Nobody’s coming round my house. We kept moving, flashing in at the high post. Sparks of titanium came over in a shower, Mose was feeling plangent And understood that the rituals of hegemony Were both ridiculous and necessary; filled, If pulled and scrubbed of reference to _, It was a lot to deal with- Open it, he said, whatever it is. - Did not convince them.

20. Entropy. A runner with beautiful legs- Unsure why I was called here: I can't see any questions You haven't attained a ransom for; Is there reason to speak If it isn't with answer or question?

21. And if ye walk cater-cornered unto Me, And will not hearken to My rune; I will bring seven times more plague Upon your, as-yet-unvisited, doom, Each according to your ills in the manner apt as I see them; Why, lo! Me? Sanctimonious? Is it a sin? - It's ridiculous That you should think To hear the voice of god, Opined Leviticus, - When you don't even know What I've come to mean. - If I am deluded, And I am speaking counter-wise to my meaning, Then who is it who is speaking? And if I walk contrary as to myself, And I am deluded, Who is it that should so moveth, as within me? Nae, you are deluded- You were not deluded, and You have not reached the threshold of paradox; Someone is coming to help.

22. As i stood on Bilston roundabout, No chance of a crossing- Cars Fast revveth they past- I smelt the sting Of their kind of damage; I looked into their eyes, They had an inkling To what's going on. The Golden Calf- Loss.

23. But they're just hire vans Picking up wood and what have you. So Belisha was a beacon on the road to captivity, I fear for the understanding and the regard Of increment and consequence, Now endentured within the culture, And exhibiting an inordinate amount of animus To conventionally pollute the landscape; I too have proved dependent On lorry drivers. Still no?

24. Then I'll do the crab, And I'll drop you again, A fulle seven times deeper in, Among the analogue of what Streamed out of the book of Leviticus- Manifest Destiny, Aboriginal Catastrophe, Rout the field; the rave plague- Widescreen monoculture; No one's coming for us.

25. So hear The horror At harvest time- Of produce Being plunder, A proof Upon the alter That poses itself As a given Which isn't to give.

Your past is unintrudable. Until that they come.

26. By suggesting an invalid value As to the nature of the work, I pool you into the conceit via the threat of its loss; There, lost, found budded and blossomed, Producing the taste of ripe almonds, It's base near the solar wind farm, Whispering soft that shepherd is a crook. And, woe is me! but, worry not, I aim to set it up as something, for a while. Where bread of bread be broken and never enough, Even though all women bake forever at once. Exodus hath let his rod turn unto a snake, Then stretch itself out in order To bring on the first plagues; May hey go pound sand.

27. Still? Really? I defy you, Creeping normally over Hebron In fear for the understanding and regard -As I told you- Of consequence and increment, Endentured in the culture; An inordinate amount of animus exhibited- And a swordly sword upon you- saying you're gone When you're not even off the sacremount. A vengeance of a covenant I'm unsure that you've ever agreed to, But the veil has been bought over- Pestilence and loss.

28. Furious, me, Seven times seven times seven times worse. i.e. as optimized to amplify outrage, unearthed, although, I'm not sure I've invoked enough dimension to illustrate All of what should be press-ganged unto the frontal lobe.

29. Eat your children. There- that's me. I'm my own actress.

30. And I will devoid your high places, And cut down thy sun-pillars, Leave you a skeleton crew to a ghost ship, Intemperately adrift.

And so the carcass wore on, And so hath foundered against the carcasses of idols; And so His soul hath fairly abhorred me.

31. Loss, loss, I'm not sniffing. Slowly go back, A little bit broken, Caution is the easiest option; A draggyness will reinforce a positive While performing an unintended habit; It’s not enough to treat either of us with the end of the week- Make sure the reward is something i experience as of when you are amid your behaviours. No, I'll say it, Die at the tent of an open market, Between repetition and habit formation, I shew correlation, that is not causation — Not with the repetition, for lo, I'm emotion- I will always be idiopathic- Think it a divine dispensation. So tired of the restrictions I declare the end over, And, that the virus continue to smoulder, All characteristics in being so mutable- Then Moses stood in the door of the tent, Amid multiple failed predictions, - I deserve the ability to return to my life.

32. There is a number we can all be comfortable with. Have it then, So bad as to make your enemies feel some for you. And who goes looking for replacement? Speak, and he spoke, That "something big" would partake; That a truth would emerge "next week". Some of those watching the mountain from afar Came to consider, at the end, - That, looking back, we have a weak narrative. - We have a weak narrative.

33. Scattered among the nations- waste-spaces. Some say a prediction of entropy is as the general theory Of a safe bet. What may be looked upon from within The tent of meaning to be a magical, Mystical voice of secret wisdom, As sayeth we needst people push'd unto an inflection point, Where that they pick up a stone, find another and thither lay hands- That, as a weird snake, goeth crazy and kill Itself, Aaron became spokesperson for a fish oil supplement Made up of sophisticated spies who spoke foreign languages and travelled, Which, when filled, if pulled and scrubbed of reference to a golden calf, Could descry my covenant of such that We're determined not to be, By our psychological nor pathogenic ends, But by the primary given of our socio-political twin-set, As ever, we, ridiculous, replacement and necessarily, Can go pound sand.

34. It's all about sevens, in sabbaths- I warned you, you owe me a desolation, Old saying, “Spy one, ring one, leave one.” For a sabbath is my parle with dust. Should you push back against the notion of endings, What are you thinking to be, as thus pushed back against? What are you claiming when you say, No, no it isn't ending?

35. Desolation is rest, Even the rest of a draggyness, And like most things will be, Twas named twice- Once in ignorance And once in knowledge, Which it got not on your busy weekends, when ye dwelt, While otherwise engaged, upon it. If the Act gets signed, It’ll be today; Or tomorrow. Not a day later; Before we hang up, he mutters, - Twas a smuggler what done it, And needst be taken out In the name of Babylon;

36. For I shall send a faint unto the heart of the remainder In the lands of those jaded by you; and the sound of the driven leaf Shall give chase; so away do you flee, as one fleeth from ideas of a sword Or a satellite-controlled gun in the sky, Where no terrorists are present on the ground. And so shall fall they, when none pursueth, as by the draggyness Of where we're OK with a god watching over us, Because he might maketh protection of us, By shewing no incentive as to try and dispel, And by this, the virus hath gained Our blueprint for its future, Where Dr. Moloch just said - This is this sort of conflict now- That each epidemic amplifieth the next, From where all epidemics begin, anecdotally- In China.

37. And they shall stumble, one upon the other, And so through a very depressing time, when Everything is read about, and only of how Everyone's at loggerheads And nobody's cooperating with anybody. So hie, on Trump Time? But! That’s then, The suspected culprit, be it Hackers and their alleged paymasters, The smuggler what hath done it Or more malign actors- it's No reasonable person. No reasonable person should be found liable. No reasonable person should be found liable to believe it. - Did not convince them.

38. Here Aaron hath a parting message for those who might still be caught upon the roiling forums of this sort of carcass, as he once was, - Don’t leave your habits to chance, To be a derision among My enemies— It is not real- I did not think, until the very end, that it was necessarily for me to maketh the call On whether to blow it all; lo, Tiny Habits. Twas a wonderful opportunity to be deliberate. Easy, it is, to fall in line with peace and society and be so mindful. Where the lights returneth to the eyes, That at this moment, remaineth dormant. Perish, and I shall eat you up.

39. No, pine away; with thy fathers pine inside of a tree. There's a need here, so be ok With a god that watcheth over, because he, Before he role-played the insurrection and ransacked the seat of the tent of meaning, Said that the human condition cannot save itself, That our memories are going to be difficult to achieve, So now we're lost to workshops, listening sessions, A training in equity, inclusion and cultural awareness- As unto the host, the producers and the skeleton crew, And here the real answer Is close within The carcass of the other; The parody to the tragedy, Closer than is comfortably recorded By the ummim, the thurim, The uncomfortable fascinator- The wriggle out Did not convince. Focus on the wrong.

40. So to the Sacrifice, Which is short, and for a sacrifice of well-being, Sins of the father and of their own as, finally, confessed- - You’ve been killing yourself for the rest of your lives By going after the big calf, even in jest; I don’t think we’re meant to do a life alone, While community support can be really empounding. Then Aaron invoked the analect of What was hitherto only alluded after- Lord shew mercy o'er the soule Of poor olde Martin Elginbrod, As He would do, as He is god and You, but Martin Elginbrod. Nae, no sacrifice- god can furnish himself.

\/\/\...Major disruption expected until end of service... Someone is coming to help.../\/\/

41. If your intelligence... Doesn't move... At the speed of your lips... ... Then... That's not to say... And so ... won't be said... I suppose... It's not hard to... Overflow... U's address- - It's outrageous; who gets To claim the end? As Dr. Moloch skewered, - Where U's Without wiggle room; then Why would you release this information if it wasn't true? - It intrigues my botherance and no more.

42. There's a vacuum at the top that can always Be rendered to the service of sociopathy- So Aaron had reached the merrye age of 123 when on his back, Forking it over, he remembered the covenant; How transacting with God had always left him feeling dubious- At once on the bum-end of a raw deal and at the same time, A confidence trixter; that he was present only as a matter of course, As would allow for the whole to happen and what else? I got a shot of the obligatory handshake- it looked obligatory. I will remember the land.

43. Lo, for the land, the land as she lie Forsaken, shall late enjoy, in finding Return on her sabbaths in desolation; And they shall repay of the crime by iniquity- A draggyness, and then an emptiness, A peace and a solemnity. Oh my sabbaths, my covenant of sevens, Leave you me memories, On remember the land, How pandemics End, For they who to decide, And as go pound sand, Because, even because of thee and thy Rejecting of My ordinance, and then all souls abhorred, All lost, for The attention economy Where holes get called into question, Then provoked, Beyond their outskirts Flash.- I used to run. Leave me you memories. And the land- lyrical several hundred miles westward went we. Where failed mechanisms Are left to turn as ever Then, by the cypher, Reprise to page one, But my sky bolts- They are not regular And cannot be relied upon With your imperfectly leaky recall, Unqualified insight and inadequate processing- Tis an inapt power.

44. Still, for all that, I'm with you, yeah- Why, if I sell you a pipedream That will last you out your days; Which, smiled at, across your ashes, As with a wink, so with a nod, And then that, with a fondness, thus wains;- Will it not do? A 'freewill', as a given, unto you, As also upon the universe, Whereby bestowed Within a periodic Doubling to chaos, As might interpret the efficiency Of its instruments and Deny you the myths; Let to live among bad ones. Might.

45. The weight of a human collapse Is quite light, And leaves not a trace in the ground. I lie on the bank, benign Beneath the long, lean, slantage of the sun. So Moses disposes Of my properties from here; It's good bye to the Umim and to the Thurim. My brother writes my will best, As he once bade sacrifice of me; So smite him, for I'm still a grudgeful god, Still, mostly, I'll be thinking about Egypt, I find it my Culloden, In other words, An end can occur not because We grow tired of the mode And learn to live with the damage, But, In moping that fate should be The brighter star, Get on.

46. The cave closed behind Mose On his retreat from Aaron's bier, through the thickening air; And what of the Urim and Thummim- stripp'd When he wenteth so, as before the store? Aaron's memory was left for people who came after him, The pillar of cloud which proceeded in front of the van As god disallowed, disappeared with Aaron's death. Coincidences of events form the structures of time-space and give, In inference, to the retched conundrum Of how to respond- the 'you are the same of a different Stage in the only narrative there goes to tell' notion- Sinai. At another site gazelles were found At the feet of several burial mounds- - Why'd you bury them there? Enriquez enquired. - Has to be a reason. But a hypothesis is An implicit bias to begin; Hard as it be To set off without one; a return to the rushes, To the brushes- Been moiled among words For a little too long. The angel's death march On the day of revelation; the path of obsolescence To an end of ministration; god actively bows, And then obliterates the lot of them.

Why bow? He ponders. Ponders? Never. Sorry.