The Three Christs of Ypsilanti - Milton Rokeach [66]
[1]There are innumerable references to light in the Bible. E.g., Psalms 97:11, “Light is sown for the righteous…”; John 8:12. “Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life”; John 12:36, “… Believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light.” See also footnote, Chapter VIII, p. 149.
[2] It may be well to point out that this Joseph, who is about to marry Mary, has no connection with “Joseph Cassel”—his name, the reader will remember, is a pseudonym—also, that Leon’s mother is named Mary.
CHAPTER VIII[1]
R. I. D.
AT ABOUT THE SAME TIME that Leon announced his change of name, a plan I had made long before was put into effect, and the three Christs were transferred from Ward D-23 to Ward D-16. This made it possible for them to spend more time alone together. Their new quarters provided them with a private sitting-dining room, which they all liked very much; Leon described it as “more peaceful,” and Joseph as “better, more private.” During the first few weeks, Leon and Joseph cleaned the room daily, Joseph wiping the table and Leon sweeping up. These two spent most of the day in their private sitting room, on occasion conversing with each other, but more often saying little. Joseph and Leon were to sit here together for the next six months, for the most part segregating themselves from the other patients on the ward. Only infrequently did they visit the large adjoining day room to watch television or just to sit. Clyde, on the other hand, used the private room only for meals and the meetings. The rest of the time he was generally to be found wandering around or sitting somewhere in the day room.
Almost immediately after changing his identity, Leon informed everyone in the hospital—doctors, nurses, aides, and patients—of this fact. Not only did he insist on being addressed as Dung; he refused to respond to or co-operate with anyone who did not call him by that name. His behavior also showed changes whose meaning was self-evident. He began to go to the toilet frequently and to stay there for long periods. We generally had to call him from there to get him to the daily meetings; during the meeting he would leave several times, claiming that he had cramps, and when the meeting was adjourned he usually went back to the toilet. He continued to write weekend reports—but now on toilet paper. He found a new method of shaking off interferences: he would stick his head in the toilet bowl, as if symbolically flushing himself down.
And how did Clyde and Joseph react to Leon’s change of name? Immediately after Leon presented his new calling card on January 14, I asked them.
Clyde laughed. “He’s gotten hold of something. I don’t know.”
“I think it’s a bit too strong,” Joseph said. “I’m God, Christ, Holy Ghost—everything.”
This enraged Clyde. “You aren’t anything!” he shouted.
For a time they yelled at each other, until finally Joseph said: “I think it’s a waste of time to argue about it.”
Leon had observed the brief exchange without any apparent feeling, but when it was over, he said: “I know I’m a creature.”
Later, after their initial responses to the change of name had had time to become firm, we interviewed Clyde and Joseph separately to learn their reactions in somewhat more detail.
Clyde said: “I don’t like it. His name is Rex, and all of a sudden Joseph goes to the hospital and Rex gets that notion and won’t change it. Dung is a dirty word.”
—Does Rex still say he is Jesus Christ?—
“I don’t know; but he couldn’t be that, anyway, There can’t be more than one.”
—Where is the one?—
“Right here.”
—Are you glad or sorry that Rex isn’t saying he’s Jesus Christ anymore?—
“Doesn’t matter to me. I don’t call him anything now because I don’t like to say that word. Why should he change from Rex?”
Joseph, on the contrary, liked the change. “I think it’s a good idea because