登陆注册
15293800000020

第20章

THE seagulls from the upper reaches pass down the river in sober steady flight seeking the open sea.I shall miss the swoop and circle of silver wings in the sunlight and the plaintive call which sounds so strangely away from rock and shore, but it is good to know that they have gone from mudbank and murky town back to the free airs of their inheritance, to the shadow of sun-swept cliffs and the curling crest of the wind-beaten waves, to brood again over the great ocean of a world's tears.

My little tree is gemmed with buds, shy, immature, but full of promise.The sparrows busied with nest-building in the neighbouring pipes and gutters use it for a vantage ground, and crowd there in numbers, each little beak sealed with long golden straw or downy feather.

The river is heavy with hay barges, the last fruits of winter's storehouse; the lengthening days slowly and steadily oust the dark;the air is loud with a growing clamour of life: spring is not only proclaimed, but on this Feast she is crowned, and despite the warring wind the days bring their meed of sunshine.We stand for a moment at the meeting of the ways, the handclasp of Winter and Spring, of Sleep and Wakening, of Life and Death; and there is between them not even the thin line which Rabbi Jochanan on his death-bed beheld as all that divided hell from heaven.

"SPHAERA CUJUS CENTRUM UBIQUE, CIRCUMFERENTIA NULLIBUS," was said of Mercury, that messenger of the gods who marshalled reluctant spirits to the Underworld; and for Mercury we may write Life with Death as its great sacrament of brotherhood and release, to be dreaded only as we dread to partake unworthily of great benefits.

Like all sacraments it has its rightful time and due solemnities;the horror and sin of suicide lie in the presumption of free will, the forestalling of a gift, - the sin of Eve in Paradise, who took that which might only be given at the hand of the Lord.It has too its physical pains, but they are those of a woman in travail, and we remember them no more for joy that a child-man is born into the world naked and not ashamed: beholding ourselves as we are we shall see also the leaves of the Tree of Life set for the healing of the nations.

We are slowly, very slowly, abandoning our belief in sudden and violent transitions for a surer and fuller acceptance of the doctrine of evolution; but most of us still draw a sharp line of demarcation between this world and the next, and expect a radical change in ourselves and our surroundings, a break in the chain of continuity entirely contrary to the teaching of nature and experience.In the same way we cling to the specious untruth that we can begin over and over again in this world, forgetting that while our sorrow and repentance bring sacramental gifts of grace and strength, God Himself cannot, by His own limitation, rewrite the Past.We are in our sorrow that which we have made ourselves in our sin; our temptations are there as well as the way of escape.

We are in the image of God.We create our world, our undying selves, our heaven, or our hell."QUI CREAVIT TE SINE TE NONSALVABIT TE SINE TE." It is stupendous, magnificent, and most appalling.A man does not change as he crosses the threshold of the larger room.His personality remains the same, although the expression of it may be altered.Here we have material bodies in a material world - there, perhaps, ether bodies in an ether world.

There is no indecency in reasonable speculation and curiosity about the life to come.One end of the thread is between our fingers, but we are haunted for the most part by the snap of Atropos'

shears.

同类推荐
热门推荐
  • 将军语

    将军语

    若今生乱世如麻尔虞我诈便许你来世锦绣荣华满城烟花君可愿白衣饮茶清风瘦马在唱一曲六月雨下
  • 路漫漫平凡人生路

    路漫漫平凡人生路

    本文是《平凡的世界》第四部,主要讲述孙少安、田润叶、孙少平、田晓霞在1985-1992年在思想变革大背景下的故事。属于个人对利用这样一本书对那个年代的一个认识。
  • 龙斗无双

    龙斗无双

    在这个浩大的世界上!有这一块非常大的大陆名为龙之大陆!在龙之大陆上,基本上每个男人都有属于自己的龙,一些爱龙斗的女人也有自己的龙!这条龙是自己最好,最忠实的伙伴,这个忠实伙伴不会背叛你,也不会对你做任何对你有害的事情。有的人是非常信任自己的龙的,有些人甚至相信自己的龙比相信自己还深!龙之大陆上的人会用自己的龙来对战,这种比拼看的就是自己的精神力等级,和自己的龙的龙级,只有这两者都具备之者才能获得龙斗的胜利!
  • 诸天称霸

    诸天称霸

    在这个世道险恶的世界里,混吃等死的林天获得了一个商通万界的牛逼空间!从那以后,林天便走上了商通万界的道路!PS:本书成绩辣鸡,大纲不够,暂停更新,大家可以去看我的新书『无限世界之门』
  • 薰衣草之梦

    薰衣草之梦

    薰衣草的梦,是铃夏小时候的一个承诺;长大以后,铃夏已经是有名气的明星了,但她并没有忘记那个承诺;小时候的承诺,长大以后的鼓励,永生永世的信仰……
  • 宠妻无度:魔尊大人求放过

    宠妻无度:魔尊大人求放过

    她以为穿越后可以快意恩仇,不想竟穿成一个“风华绝代”的小宫女。好不容易逃了出去,谁知美男“盛情难却”非要带她去魔教,美名其曰:你要对我负责。好吧,尊主,你赢了!
  • 金陵神话

    金陵神话

    地球并不是唯一的存在,当我们的地球绕着太阳旋转的时候,太阳也在围绕着其他的行星旋转。。。在宇宙当中一直有着一个神秘的传说,在宇宙中是有一个中心点的,这个中心点我们称他为,始源星,意思是一切生命都是从这里开始。。。
  • 僵魂记

    僵魂记

    拥有神秘身份的僵尸,从未知的地方而来,只想平凡的生活。在周围不断地出现同类的情况下,在那些一个接一个让他震撼的人物出现之后,他当年的故事和身份正在一层一层地从历史地雾霾之中挣脱而出。有趣的语文老师张禄……到底是谁呢?
  • 狂妃三嫁:谋定天下谋定他

    狂妃三嫁:谋定天下谋定他

    "她,本来是个规规矩矩的化妆师助理,哪想到一次意外将她赶上了穿越的方舟,在这个陌生的时代里,等待她的不是清平世界而是无尽的战乱!懵懂的她才脱虎掌又入狼窝!然而,命运不会让一个人永远的倒霉下去,她的付出并不是没有回报。三个绝色男人先后来到了她的身边。这三个男人美的各有千秋,她与这三个男人之间的感情从一开始就不平凡,她与他们紧密纠缠着,生生死死的交织着。那么谁才是她最终的归宿,命运之轮又会将她指向何方?"【情节虚构,请勿模仿】
  • 福妻驾到

    福妻驾到

    现代饭店彪悍老板娘魂穿古代。不分是非的极品婆婆?三年未归生死不明的丈夫?心狠手辣的阴毒亲戚?贪婪而好色的地主老财?吃上顿没下顿的贫困宭境?不怕不怕,神仙相助,一技在手,天下我有!且看现代张悦娘,如何身带福气玩转古代,开面馆、收小弟、左纳财富,右傍美男,共绘幸福生活大好蓝图!!!!快本新书《天媒地聘》已经上架开始销售,只要3.99元即可将整本书抱回家,你还等什么哪,赶紧点击下面的直通车,享受乐乐精心为您准备的美食盛宴吧!)