Book of Inspiration, chapter 12 (adapted)

1 Of all the living creatures made by the Great Spirit, only man was left unfinished, says Jehovih.

2 The weakest of all animals, without knowing or power, is man.

3 The bird does not need to better her feathers or learn from a book how to build her nest or treat her kin.

4 The hare is not told, “Fear the fox,” nor does she teach her young to run fast.

5 Yet, bird and beast move as Creator wills, in the way they were made. The bird builds, the hare flees, and both are perfect in their way.

6 But a child of man will touch the mouth of a serpent or swallow what would kill it.

7 Man is not like the others. Creator gave him the seeds to grow, so he might one day hold all the wisdom of the creatures.

8 The Great Spirit said: “Watch what you eat and drink, where you walk by day, and where you sleep by night.”

9 For everything leaves its mark on your soul, shaping you into its own kind.

10 If you wish to be gentle like the lamb, patient and peaceful, eat of the herbs, fruits, and grains.

11 Your blood will be calm, your spirit full of peace and love.

12 But if you choose to be fierce, like the wolf, then eat flesh and fish. Your blood will burn, your spirit will stir with anger, jealousy, and the thirst for vengeance.

13 What you put in your blood will echo in your spirit.

14 If you live by the death of others, even so, death will weigh upon your soul.

15 Your spirit is fed by your blood, just as your body is fed by the earth’s gifts.

16 The body takes from the land, but the spirit is fed by the unseen air.

17 A woman said: “I do not kill the lamb or bird, but I eat what others kill.”

18 Jehovih said: “To take the life I have given is but a simple act. Do not waste words debating the deed.

19 Instead, think on how eating flesh poisons the blood of man.”

20 The Great Spirit made all things to their kind. Those who make themselves hunters of flesh cannot escape the strife it brings to body and soul.

21 In the beginning, man ate flesh, as was needed. But now, it turns to poison within him.

22 A day will come when man will turn away from it. The smell of blood will sicken him, and its sight will fill him with sorrow.

23 The butcher will feel shame, and his neighbors will say: “You reek of death.”

24 Flesh led us to drunkenness and waste.

25 Flesh led us to the tobacco and the narcotic.

26 Flesh left us with sickness in the body and spirit.

27 We ate death, and so we decayed.

28 From head to foot, we carry its stench.

29 Our children are born weak, and many do not survive.

30 Jehovih says: “When I call the nations to peace, My hand will rise above the heads of those who kill for meat.”

31 Just as every beast was once made perfect, so too shall man rise to his own perfection.

32 Now is the dawn of that time, called the Great Harmony (Kosmon).

33 As the spider weaves her web without teaching, and the bees make their hive in harmony, so too shall man be guided anew by My voice within him.

34 By inspiration, not books, shall he learn to live as I intended.

35 His hands will know their work, without need for long teaching or explanation.

36 As I once gave man rule over every beast, now I tell him: Take command of the earth, the waters, and the air above.

37 Bring cold where it is hot, and warmth where it is cold, for the good of all.

38 To do this, first purify yourself.

39 Cleanse your blood, your body, and your spirit of discord.

40 Open the way for My voice, so that you and I may walk as one.