The Household of God
Volume 2
Rise and spiritual prime of the first world empire Hanoch
- Chapter 216 -
LAMECH'S SELF-RECOGNITION. LOVE AS THE RIGHT WAY TO GOD. LAMECH'S REQUEST FOR A FURTHER PARABLE IS WISELY REFUSED BY KlSEHEL (22nd December 1842)
When Lamech had heard this from Kisehel he was irradiated and warmed as by a bright flame and called out after a short while, saying:
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"O you my dear brother and friend! You have just proclaimed to me something inexpressibly glorious out of your wisdom conferred to you by God!
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"Yes, only now do I realize fully what was mostly wrong with me and with us all! We were seeking God in all the corners and nooks of so-called justice, trying to therefrom attain a contemplative wisdom and thereby make God visible to us; but already from the beginning we tacitly set the following condition:
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"If God does exist, He must let Himself be found in this way, namely, visibly; however, if He does not let Himself be found thus, He either does not exist or is some weakling.
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"And both the one and the other entitles us then to set ourselves up as a God.'
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"Soon after I had committed the atrocity on my brothers, proudly fancying myself as more than a demi-god, I actually did hear a divine word which took me under its protection, me who was very afraid because of the abomination; however, since this word to me was uttered so gently and most kindly, my wisdom finally came to the following most vexing conclusion, namely, that God did exist, but had to be a weakling, in fear of me and afraid of approaching me.
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This conclusion then was the reason for all my ignominy with which you are well acquainted.
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"You have been telling me many a thing, but none of your words has been so clear in showing me precisely the relationship between God and man as this one.
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"Only now do I realize the whole magnitude of my error.
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"Therefore, someone who has heard only little of God can also already love Him and, fortifying himself more and more in this love, can practice it so that it will soon become the almighty foundation of his life.
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"Once it has become this, man has drawn near to the almighty God in the alone just manner and God will reveal Himself to him in accordance with the justice of the love which alone is capable of enlivening man's heart, soul and spirit only for God.
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"Comprehending this clearly from your words, I want to ask you kindly as a brother to give me another, similar example so as to consolidate this holy teaching and provide me with still more of such splendid subject matter for the instruction of many poor sinners who went astray partly through me and partly by their own will."
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And Kisehel told Lamech: "Dear brother Lamech, you have given me one of the greatest joys through this your request which is truly coming from the heart, as in general by your whole present behavior.
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"I should like to tell you another thousand such examples; but look, this is now no longer necessary with you.
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"Thereby you have beheld the truth in its depth; all else your love for the Lord will offer you anyway in the greatest abundance. Of this you can be fully assured.
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"Look! If it were still dark within you, you would have hardly been able to see the bottom of the truth.
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"For a few stars shimmering more or less in the sky at night do not make the ground of the earth lighter, and in such a light you will not easily discern what lies on the ground.
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"However, once the one sun has risen, it needs neither the stars nor a second sun; for the light of the one is strong enough to light up everything more than sufficiently.
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"So for the time being be content with the one sun until the true, living one will rise within you.
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"In the rays of this sun you will anyway find everything you need in the greatest abundance.
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"So let us proceed to the city where many are waiting for us! Amen."