[...] there being so many ways to begin this book or any book. Instantiations of the Word being wholly dependent upon the exhalations of a particular body, and the relative strength of any impelling spirit. But tonight I am shown very clearly: Injeel may only be set down at the end of a long journey.

 

Most nights [...] but the wine has done its work, and whatever resins She laced it with. Lately I have been unable to move without the People begging me for words, or interpreting my smallest [...] insistent spirit drew me out of Her inner chamber towards this small space above the entrance to the caves, through thickets and clumps of the soundly sleeping People.

 

[...] already swayed by the words I have spoken but they could never guess that I retain deliberately unsaid words surpassing their tolerance to hear, with the power to rupture minds and hearts and even to cause bodies to fail.

 

I have meditated constantly upon means to corral or contain such words and one singular answer has flashed through my mind: Injeel. Describing a kind of containment device, allowing the Word to emanate within strict confines in order to focus and control its destructive power. Especially against unintended victims who were never the aim of such words.

 

I thought Injeel could only be transmitted through a ready writer [...] shown that the Spirit no longer speaks comfortably to the literate, that writing is a tremendous technology but also obvious idolatry which hardens the inner self against revelation. Breaking minds into categorical units that divide against the dictates of the Spirit, splintering the Truth so it is never heard from again.

 

This is revelation: that Injeel requires not One but the conjoined efforts of the Two. With One you may have revelation but no book, or book after book containing false revelation or indeed no revelation at all.

 

Saul must come with me. His frame is small and crooked and bent almost like a bow, but his letters swiftly and forcefully compensate for any lack of strength in his body. He listens and asks such penetrating questions that I feel he could write me into existence had I not already been bequeathed my unique bodily place within the world.

 

[...] sacred mountain calling us towards the East. In reveries I am shown the contours of its slopes, how deep its roots strike down into the earth. In ancient tongues it is called Fire Mountain and I accept that as its true name. We must break a path eastward towards its snowy peak to find a place nestled in the lee of the mountain, beneath the gigantic weight of rock pointing infinitely towards heaven.

 

My only fear is of Mary. She will be hurt by my decision and Her hurt quickly transforms into anger. I can usually soothe Her with easy words but on this hard morning I will have no words other than to say that I am leaving. Whatever has passed between us has done its work of clarifying my vision, and must go into abeyance until the work is complete. Until we have set down Injeel [...] been defeated in our efforts to do so.

 

Injeel will come readily enough. I have seen its closely numbered verses, alternating between declaration and parable and [...] pored over by the eyes of the yet-to-be, I see it transcribed many times by hands moving well into the future, and also means of transmission beyond the knowledge of this or any [...]

 

Injeel. Future worlds already grasp at it, putting up every kind of book in its place. But no writer can give them what they seek, and the unlettered who do hear the Word fail to produce books in their lifetimes, running after women or the spoils of war and neglecting to identify their scribe. Distorting the Word from its proper usage, forgetting whole swathes of what they were given to say.

 

What we will set down is the very thing cloistered in the Holy of Holies. The ineffable and holy Name which is also the name of Love but cut into the flesh of [...] or Love manifested as it should be unfolding into the world. Injunctions to Love or to Become Love will [resonate/sound] very hollow compared to the richly textured revelation of Injeel.

 

[...] will come a torrent of [similar/confirmatory] words, flooding out into the world to drown every false word there is. I will be the First but I could never be the Last, I light the way as a simple lantern does, glowing with the same light as every lantern that has ever been destined to inflame.

 

There is no sense in asking whether the rigours of this journey might be uplifted from me. I made my confirmation so long ago that there is no sense in [...] that I remain consecrated to the Word and I am already poured out like a drink offering. The time has come for me to depart from the People and to finish what I started so many years ago, until my body is broken or my mind dulled to the promptings of the Word that has instructed me since the earliest times I can recall.

 

I will go back down. As dawn nears it makes the stars to the east beckon even more brightly, but I am also struck by [a vein] of dread that I do not comprehend. Perhaps this journey might be more painful than I imagine, or perhaps I am in fear of [...] 

 

Judah will understand. He prefers the power of muscle and sinew over the weight of the Word but he also accepts that my work is my work. I have failed to convince him of truths I see in our future but I know he will still give me his blessing, along with any material help he can provide.

 

Mary will not bless me. She is a young bride in love and there is no way to convince Her that Love is so much more important than any one instance of love. As genuine and intense as our feelings are they are simply our feelings, and they cannot be allowed to inhibit the manifestation of Injeel or the preparatory work required.

 

[...] back down towards the bed of pleasure which was prepared for me. Easing the pressure of my desire just enough for truth to ordain my heart. Out of your beneficence and mercy and your subtle understanding of the burdens I bear as a man.

 

I would hope for a little more restful sleep before [...] and the necessary rising and setting off despite every inducement to remain.

 

[...] the hard miles and any selfish desire of my own, so that the Word can become perfect and also perfectly manifest. So that your will may be done: on Earth as it is in Heaven.