|
"Finally, I realized that the Seraphim had come to me, three orfour of them, I didn't really notice, and they were standing over me,and looking down on me, their faces almost unendurably bright withreflected light.
" 'Memnoch, God wants to speak to you alone,' they said.
" 'Yes, at once!' I sprang to my feet.
"And far from the jubilant throngs, I found myself standing insilence, in quiet, without companions, my arm up over my eyes, myeyes down, and near as I could possibly be to the presence of theLord."17UNCOVER your eyes and look at me,' said the Lord. "Instantly,aware that this might mean my total obliteration, that all might havebeen folly and misunderstanding, I obeyed.
"The radiance had become uniform, glorious yet tolerable, and inthe very midst of it, broadcast in it, I saw distinctly a countenancesuch as my own. I cannot say that it was a human face. Countenance,person, expression梩his is what I beheld, and this Highly PersonalCountenance was regarding me directly and fully.
"It was so beautiful that I couldn't imagine moving or ever turningaway from it, but then it began to brighten, it began to force meto blink and to struggle not to cover my eyes rather than imperil myvision forever.
"The light then became muted; it contracted; it became bearableand engulfing, but not blinding to me. And I stood, trembling, veryglad I had not reached to cover my face.
" 'Memnoch,' God said. 'You have done well. You have broughtsouls from Sheol who are worthy of Heaven; you have increased thejoy and the bliss of Heaven; you have done well.'
"I uttered a thanks which was in fact an anthem of adoration,repeating the obvious, that God had made all these souls and that inHis mercy He had allowed them to come to Him.
" 'This makes you very happy, does it not?' He asked.
" 'Only if it makes you happy, Lord,' I said, which was a bit ofa lie.
" 'Rejoin the angels, Memnoch,' He said. 'You are forgiven forbecoming flesh and blood without my permission, and forgiven forhaving slept with the Daughters of Men. You are upheld in yourhopes for the souls of Sheol. Leave me now and do whatever it is youwish, but interfere no more with Nature, or with humankind, sinceyou insist they are not part of Nature, and on which point you arewrong.'
" 'Lord? I started timidly.
" 'Yes???'
" 'Lord, these souls I brought from Sheol, why, they are less thanone one-hundredth of the souls in Sheol; they probably are less thanone one-hundredth of souls who have disintegrated or vanished sincethe beginning of the world. Lord, Sheol is filled with confusion andmisunderstanding. These were but the elect.'
" 'I am supposed to be surprised by this information? How could Inot know it?' He asked.
" 'Surely, Lord, you'll let me go back to Sheol and to try to advancethose souls who haven't reached the level of Heaven. Surelyyou'll let me try to purge them of whatever keeps them unworthy ofheavenly bliss.'
" 'Why?'
" 'Lord, there are millions lost to you for every million saved.'
" 'You know that I know this, do you not?'
" 'Lord, have mercy on them! Have mercy on the humans of theEarth who seek through countless rituals to reach you, know you, andappease you.'
" 'Why?'
"I didn't answer. I was dumbstruck. I thought. And then I said,'Lord, do you not care for these souls who are drifting in confusion?
Who suffer so in darkness?'
"'Why should I?'He asked.
"Again, I took my time. It was imperative that this answer count.
But in the interval he spoke:
" 'Memnoch, can you count for me all of the stars? Do you knowtheir names, their orbits, their destinies in Nature? Can you give mea rough calculation, Memnoch, of the number of grains of sand in thesea?'
" 'No, Lord, I can't.'
" 'Throughout my Creation, there are creatures whose spawnnumbers in the thousands, of which only a tiny portion survive?
fishes of the sea, turtles of the sea, winged insects of the air. Ahundred, a million even, of one species may be born under the arc of oneday's sun, with only a handful to survive and reproduce. Don't youknow this?'
" 'Yes, Lord, I know. I knew in ages past. I knew when the animalswere evolved. I knew.'
" 'So what is it to me that only a handful of souls come to theGates of Heaven? Maybe I will send you to Sheol again, in Time. Iwill not say.'
119/163 首页 上一页 117 118 119 120 121 122 下一页 尾页
|
