The Great Gospel of John
Volume 4
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
Jesus near Caesarea Philippi (cont.)
- Chapter 52 -
Zorel's soul on the path to renunciation.
1
(Zorel:) "Now the friend says to me: 'Come, Zorel, leave this place, I will take you to another place!'
2
I go now away with the good friend, far away and away from the lake. We are strolling now through a marvellous avenue, and the trees are bowing before him whom I'm following. He must be something big in the kingdom of all spirits! Oh, some of the trees nearly break while bowing!
3
You, Zinka, are also going with us, but you look very foggy and seems not to notice how the trees are bowing in front of my friend! This is something unusual for this world, but nevertheless is true!
4
Strange, strange! Now the trees even start to talk! They shout loudly in a well perceptible whispering: 'Hail to the Holy of all holinesses, hail the great King of all kings from eternity to eternity!'
5
Don't you think that this is highly unusual?! Annoyingly you still pretend as if you do not notice it, or that it is a very ordinary appearance like a decaying rain on earth!
6
Yes, yes, the friend, to whom the trees bow and praising him, tells me, that this what is similar to you, is not you, but only a shadow-like outer picture of your soul and only produces itself in our atmosphere. From your soul are radiating certain life beams, similar to those of a light; as soon as they touch our atmosphere, they form in a similar manner an image, like the radiating beams of a person in daylight falling onto the surface of a mirror, also forming immediately the image of the person from whom the beams are originating.
7
I will only look at your feet and convince myself that you are not walking, but only gliding with us. Quite right, you are not moving your feet, neither your hands, but nevertheless follows us in a distance of about seven good steps! Yes, now I understand why you can't see the trees bowing or hear their marvellous whispering!
8
But the avenue becomes narrower and narrower, and the trees are getting smaller, but standing closer together; but the bowing and whispering therefore does not end. The path is also getting more difficult. The avenue is now so narrow and the path so full of thorns and bushes, that we only get through with great difficulty! The end is still not in sight, although the friend says, that the path will end soon and we will have reached our destination. Oh, now the bushes are getting quite dense, and the surface nearly rocky, and between the rocks everything is full of thorns and thistles; it is almost impossible to make any progress!
9
I ask the friend, why we have chosen such a hopelessly bad path. But the friend says: 'Just look right and left and on both sides and you will see the sea which is bottomless deep! This is the only firm land tongue, although at the end very narrow and thorny, which winds between the two endless big seas. It connects all the earthly world with the great Paradise land for the blest in the beyond. Who wants to get there, must put up with this path since it is the only one!
10
You see, Zinka, such strange answer gave me the friend and leader of my insignificance! I ask him again and say: 'On earth there are also many bad roads, but the people help each other; they take mattocks, staples and shovels and repair the road. Why isn't it done here?'
11
But the friend says: 'Because this immense undergrowth protects this land tongue from very powerful storms of the sea! If it wasn't for this land tongue to be protected by this so dense and firm undergrowth, it would have long since been washed away by the mighty waves from the seas on both sides. Because this thorny undergrowth is so closely knit, especially towards both shore lines, the strong waves break against it and the foam is settled between the dense twigs, which in time hardens to a rock and by this action this important land tongue becomes stronger and stronger. But this land tongue has the name humility and firm basic truth. Both, humility and truth, have always been full of thorns for the people!'
12
Behold, Zinka, this is what the friend has spoken, and inside myself it gets strangely bright, and I start to notice, as if something starts to stir in my heart; and what is stirring, is a light, and the light has a form in the heart like an embryo in the mothers womb. It is completely clear, I see it. But now it gets bigger and mightier! Ah, what a marvellous and completely pure light this is! This is most likely the actual life-flame out of God in the true heart of man! Yes, yes, this is it! It still grows continuously, and, oh, it does me so good!
13
We still stroll along the narrow path; but the undergrowth and thorns do not bother me anymore; I also do not feel any pain if from time to time a thorn stings or scratches me! Now the undergrowth gets thinner, the trees are getting bigger again, and a marvellous avenue opens up. The undergrowth has stopped completely, the land tongue gets wider, and the shores of the seas are getting further and further away from us, and in the far distance I already can see a marvellous land with the most beautiful mountains, and over the mountains shines a most marvellous red of dawn! But we are still inside the avenue which gets bigger and wider, and the now very large and high trees still haven't stopped to bow their majestic crowns before my friend and leader, and their whispering sounds now like the most marvellous and purest tuned harps!
14
O Zinka! There, yes there, there it is already undescribable marvellous! But you are still gliding with us and still are mute like before, but you can't help it; since it is not you, but only your cursorily effigy. Oh, if you only could see it as well, but also to keep alive the good markings while returning to the earthly life, what an unforgettable person you could be! However, the friend says, in time the living memory to everything will be given back to me; but before that I also have to walk in the flesh this thorny road, which will find itself."