GR translation: the measure of his faith

[David Morris]

“*Past and future stopped at the beach*: that was how he’d set it out. *But
he wanted to believe it too*”

Probably the most important *measure* (ascertain the size, amount, or
degree of (something) by using an instrument or device marked in standard
units or by comparing it with an object of known size.) of his faith would
be how successful he was in actually *believing* it.  Was he pretending,
acting as if he believed it?  Or had he become a *TRUE BELIEVER*?

On Wed, Jul 13, 2022 at 12:08 PM Mike Jing <gravitys.rainbow.cn at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Right. My question was more about the meaning of the word "measure" in
> that particular phrase and the phrase as a whole.
>
>
> On Wed, Jul 13, 2022 at 11:54 AM David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> And his faith is thus clearly described:
>>
>> “he wanted to *believe it* too, the same way he loved her, past all
>> words—*believe that no matter how bad the time, nothing was fixed,
>> everything could be changed* and she could always deny the dark sea at
>> his back, *love it away*
>>
>>
>> On Wed, Jul 13, 2022 at 11:23 AM Mike Jing <gravitys.rainbow.cn at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> That's certainly true. The (slightly) broader context:
>>>
>>> His life had been tied to the past. He’d seen himself a point on a
>>> moving wavefront, propagating through sterile history—a known past, a
>>> projectable future. But Jessica was the breaking of the wave. Suddenly
>>> there was a beach, the unpredictable . . . new life. Past and future
>>> stopped at the beach: that was how he’d set it out. But he wanted to
>>> believe it too, the same way he loved her, past all words—believe that no
>>> matter how bad the time, nothing was fixed, everything could be changed and
>>> she could always deny the dark sea at his back, love it away. And
>>> (selfishly) that from a somber youth, squarely founded on Death—along for
>>> Death’s ride—he might, with her, find his way to life and to joy. He’d
>>> never told her, he avoided telling himself, but that was the measure of his
>>> faith, as this seventh Christmas of the War came wheeling in another charge
>>> at his skinny, shivering flank. . . .
>>>
>>>
>>> On Wed, Jul 13, 2022 at 11:14 AM David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Its meaning can only be revealed in the context of his story, not at
>>>> all possible with this brief quote alone
>>>>
>>>> On Wed, Jul 13, 2022 at 8:37 AM Mike Jing <
>>>> gravitys.rainbow.cn at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> V126.18-20, P128.30-32   He’d never told her, he avoided telling
>>>>> himself,
>>>>> but that was the measure of his faith, as this seventh Christmas of
>>>>> the War
>>>>> came wheeling in another charge at his skinny, shivering flank. . . .
>>>>>
>>>>> What does "the measure of his faith" mean exactly?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l
>>>>>
>>>>