ahab as luddite (Quakerism)

[John Bailey]

>From: Thomas Eckhardt <thomas.eckhardt at uni-bonn.de>
>To: lorentzen-nicklaus <lorentzen-nicklaus at t-online.de>
>CC: lycidas2 at earthlink.net, pynchon-l at waste.org
>Subject: Re: ahab as luddite (Quakerism)
>Date: Thu, 07 Feb 2002 22:05:25 +0000

>>P.S. As for what jbor termed "Ahab's response to mortality": The idea that 
>>Ahab's leg was reaped away by Moby Dick as a mower would reap away a blade 
>>of grass in the field reminds me of that passage to be found somewhere in 
>>the Bible in which it is bluntly stated that "all flesh is grass" - which 
>>I think is a brillant and quite horrifying metaphor for mortality.
>
>

It is very good, isn't it?

Isaiah 40:6 The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is 
grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field:
7 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the LORD 
bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass.
8 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall 
stand for ever.

1 Peter 1:24 For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the 
flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:
25 But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by 
the gospel is preached unto you.

When looking for this I noticed just how many references to what is termed 
'the green herb' occur in the Bible. Made me chuckle.

But seriously, an interesting-sounding book review at
http://books.guardian.co.uk/Print/0,3858,4248339,00.html
of 'The Forgiveness of Nature: The Story of Grass' by Roger Deakin.

"A quarter of the earth's surface is covered in grass. It is the natural 
vegetation of the vast, arid regions of steppes, prairies, savannah and 
veld...It is our deep cultural bond with grass that interests the author: 
the story of a human contract with nature that, until recently, has always 
been about symbiosis, not exploitation...

Today 85% of our grassland is a monoculture so heavily fertilised that it 
will support only one or two specialist super-grasses. Harvey calls it 
"everyturf". Hay meadows are one of our oldest inventions, yet we have been 
so busy trashing them with the plough, the crop sprayer, land drains and 
chemical fertilisers that only 3% of those we had as recently as 1975 have 
survived."

The man loves his grass.

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