The Ishmael Gradsdovic Papers, part ten


Part ten of the Ishmael Gradsdovic papers...


4 December 1993, Santa Cruz

Dream #1:

Right now, a distinguished committee of Christian theologians from some of our nations finest universities is meeting in a Congressional office room, waiting to hear from Senator -----, who is reviewing their research on the House postal scandal. But the Senator, on his way to the meeting, has tripped on a crack in the walkway and broken his leg or his hip. I, his aide, must go to the meeting and explain that the Senator will be unable to attend. I enter the small, teacher's-lounge-like conference room and apologize to the half-dozen or so members of the committee and explain the Senator's absence.

I explain that the floor in the hallway is cracked because the Capitol building was actually built on uneven ground -- effectively two very small hills. Between these hills, farmers used to drive their sheep, making the ground more broken up and unstable. So the land under the middle of the Capitol is not only lower but also more prone to shift around. This was not such a problem under the original plans for the building, but when the second storey was added, and the middle of that floor designated to hold an extensive and heavy library, things got out of hand. The Capitol is falling apart.

When I get to part about the sheep and shepherds, the theologians start making strange jokes, half in ancient greek, all having to do with various references to the symbols of sheep and shepherds as they are used in the bible -- jokes whose premise seemed to revolve around putting the Senator in the scope of a biblical verse and laughing at how absurd he looked in those surroundings.

I don't know ancient greek, though, so I don't follow the jokes very well and just try to laugh politely at appropriate moments.




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