BOOK XIX
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18 |
And we continue, quite flabbergasted by their shouts and their gesticulations, to perish in ignorance and in fear, in doubt and in hatred, in solitude and in despair, in slavery and in misery, in old age and in sickness, for like them we have lost the divine knowledge, and have repudiated God's conscience, believing stupidly that we order the chaos with our derisory intelligence, reason and will. |
18' |
You are as lacking in perspicacity like your counsellor the devil, who stupidly judged by his appearance the first man that God presented him with. You who glorify hate daily, God has already excluded you from the land of the living, and you shall hate yourselves more and more until the final scattering. "How brutal and unexpected is the fall of the wicked! And how forgiving is God towards those who return to him freely!" |
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38 |
Let us be those who do not manage themselves, but who have faith in the God who brings order to the chaos.
- Let us be those who demand nothing, but who seek eternal life. - Let us be those who do not take possession, but who pray to him who showers us with blessings. - Let us be those who do not envy, but who enjoy the gifts of the God of love. - Let us be those who do not bustle about, but who work with the God of resurrection. - Let us be those who do not condemn, but who ask God's forgiveness for everyone. - Let us be those who do not amass, but who imitate the God of charity. - Let us be those who do not fight, but who are patient with the God who separates and unites. - Let us be those who do not kill, but who manifest the life of God by uniting heaven and earth. |
38' |
The ungrateful and the impious are not close to God, but neither are the flatterers and the hypocrites. - The debauched and the lazy are not close to God, but neither are the moralists and the workers. - The ignorant and the stupid are not close to God, but neither are the scholars and the intelligent. - The rebels and the blasphemers are not close to God, but neither are the resigned and the narrators. - The sensualists and the spendthrifts are not close to God, but neither are the inhibited and the thrifty. - The wicked and the furious are not close to God, but neither are the wellintentioned and the snivellers. - The righteous and the experts are close to God, but so are the charitable and the simple and, above all, those who have goodwill in God. |
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56 |
Well-named tempter, how well you test us in the blaze of envy and of pride!
You say "ME", but we reply "GOD". Oh, enemy, who shall save us from the vertigo of your darkened face, if it is not the love of our brilliant Lord who is so pure? |
56' |
Therefore, let us pay close attention to what we think and what we say, for if it is good, good shall appear, and if it is evil, likewise evil shall come. "It is only God's love that truly fulfils and satisfies us. All else quickly disappoints and bores us. But it is also his holy science that saves us from death here below." |
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