Bodysurfing

[bandwraith at aol.com]

Been thinking about St Flip of IV fame and his presence which is really
an absence. I don't remember him making an actual appearance in the
novel, except maybe a cameo, and his surfer's theophany. Specifically:
the idea of "walking on water" along with his acquisition of a splinter
of "the True Board."

The Christian story of walking on the waters has always struck me as a
metaphor for time. The sea, usually associated with faith and the whole
body of the church, might also be construed as a sea of time, which
faith, and the grace of god, allow the body to traverse- either as an
individual, or collectively.

Pynchon's jokey metaphor-  the conflation of the cross/board with the
story of walking on the waters- is complex, if awkward. It would simply
things greatly if the board/cross were dispensed with altogether and 
just
considered to represent the material aspect of being- the body. It would
be kind of like getting back to pre-technology days.

Bodysurfing on the sea of time- Why worry about walking when you can
learn how to swim?

Happy New Wave!