V
Then the righteous one will stand in an unlimited freedom, a shepherd in
The midst of those who tormented him, and those who disregarded him in his weariness.
They will see, and they will tremble in a tremendous fear,
And they will marvel in the wonder of his wholeness,
And they will say in their hearts, repenting
And sighing in the anguish of their spirits,
Saying, This is the one whom at one time we mocked,
Become for us a parable, a reproach of evil,
Thinking him in his lifetime a madness, in his death a scorn.
In how many ways did they consider the son of God,
And his lot in those who are holy?
For we have been deceived in the ways of truth,
And are not worthy of the light of righteousness,
And the sun will no longer shine upon us.
We filled ourselves with lawlessness, and destroyed our own ways.
We went into the wilderness, where none are known to walk;
The way of the Lord, we knew it not.
The high esteem of the heart, what has it done for us?
Or the esteem of men, the boast of our spirit, what has it given us?
All these things will pass in the way of a shadow,
And in the way of a report long faded,
Or in the way of a ship moving upon the water’s waves,
Unable to decide its way,
Or the path of its keel in the wave.
Or in the way of a bird flying forth,
(Though they have never marveled at its flight)
Beating its wings upon the subtle air,
Attaining it in a violent burst of movement,
Touching it with its wings, ascending the heavens,
Never after to be wondered at in its flight.
Or in the way of an arrow fired surely,
Reaching the air, taken by the wind, never to be known in its course.
In this way, having been born, we cease to be;
We have found no wonder in the virtue of existence.
So in our darkness…(manuscript incomplete)
And so the hope of the unfaithful is like a mote of dust, carried by the wind,
As light as a spider’s web, driven away by a whirlwind,
Or like a mist fallen into nothingness,
Like the thought of a lone sojourner, dwelling in a distant day.
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