Jesus said, "If the flesh came into being because of the spirit, it is a marvel,
but if the spirit came into being because of the body, it is a marvel of marvels.
Yet I marvel at how this great wealth has come to dwell in poverty."

The Gospel of Thomas: The Hidden Sayings of Jesus.
English translation and critical edition of the Coptic text, Marvin W. Meyer.
Interpretation by Harold Bloom. HarperSanFrancisco, 1992

ascend

May 15th, 1996

For Muhammed Ali, of the al-Samman clan.