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                                            -41-
       
       
       [Illustration:  a woman sitting on a stool and drawing, with a child beneath 
       her.  The woman is saying, "Hey, man...great!  I feel goofy, the way my old 
       man looks when he's drunk!"]
       
                              THE HONEST BOOK OF TRUTH
                        being a BIBLE of The Erisian Movement
       
                             and How It was Revealed to
             Episkopos LORD OMAR KHAYYAM RAVENHURST, K.S.C.; Bull Goose
               of Limbo; and Master Pastor of the Church Invisible of 
               The Laughing Christ, Hidden Temple of The Happy Jesus,
                          Laughing Buddha Jesus (LBJ) Ranch 
       
                                                [Illustration:  a crufix with
                                                        a smile nailed to it]
       
                            From The Honest Book of Truth
                         THE BOOK OF EXPLANATIONS, Chapter I
       
       1.  There came on day to Lord Omar, Bull Goose of Limbo, a Messenger 
       of Our Lady who told him of a Sacred Mound wherein was buried an 
       Honest Book.
       
       2.  And the Angel of Eris bade of the Lord:  Go ye hence and dig the 
       Truth, that ye may come to know it and, knowing it, spread it and, 
       spreading it, wallow in it and, wallowing in it, lie in it and, lying 
       in the Truth, become a Poet of the Word and a Sayer of Sayings - an 
       Inspiration to all men and a Scribe to the Gods.
       
       3.  So Omar went forth to the Sacred Mound, which was to the East of 
       Nullah, and thereupon he worked digging in the sand for five days and 
       five nights, but found no Book.
       
       4.  At the end of five days and five nights of digging, it came to 
       pass that Omar was exhausted.  So he put his shovel to one side and 
       bedded himself down on the sand, using as a pillow a Golden Chest he 
       had uncovered on the first day of his labors.
       
       5.  Omar slept.
       
       6.  On the fifth day of his sleeping, Lord Omar fell into a Trance, 
       and there came to him in the Trance a Dream, and there came to him in 
       the Dream a Messenger of Our Lady who told him of a Sacred Grove 
       wherein was hidden a Golden Chest.
       
       7.  And the Angel of Eris bade to the Lord:  Go ye hence and lift the 
       Stash, that ye may come to own it and, owning it, share it and, 
       sharing it, love in it and, loving in it, dwell in it and, dwelling in 
       the Stash, become a Poet of the Word and a Sayer of Sayings - an 
       Inspiration to all men and a Scribe to the Gods.
       
       8.  But Omar lamented, saying unto the Angel:  What is this shit, man?  
       What care I for the Word and Sayings?  What care I for the Inspiration 
       of all men?  Wherein does it profit a man to be a Scribe to the Gods 
       when the Scribes of the Governments do nothing, yet are paid better 
       wages?
       
       9.  And, lo, the Angel waxed in anger and Omar was stricken to the 
       Ground by an Invisible Hand and did not arise for five days and five 
       nights.
       
       10.  And it came to pass that on the fifth night he dreamt, and in his 
       Dream he had a Vision, and in this Vision there came unto him a 
       Messenger of Our Lady who entrusted to him a Rigoletto cigar box 
       containing many filing cards, some of the in packs with rubber bands 
       around, and upon these cards were sometimes written verses, while upon 
       others nothing was written.
       
       11.  Thereupon the Angel Commanded the Lord:  Take ye this Honest Book 
       of Truth to thine bosom and cherish it.  Carry it forth to The Land 
       and lay it before Kings of Nations and Collectors of Garbage.  Preach 
       from it unto the Righteous, that they may renounce their ways and 
       repent.