The Flush of Dawn

I'm sort of between posts here, and don't have much time to spare - plus, half the things I want to blog about require books I no longer have and cannot afford. So to fill in the gap, I thought I'd quote somebody else. This comes from "The Flush of Dawn" by Jacob Boehme, a 16-17C Christian mystic. It is, if you like, my credo. Incidentally, William Blake paraphrases part of this in The Songs of Innocence.

All men are thus, be they Christians, Jews, Turks or heathens; in whoever love and gentleness is, in him is also the light of God.

You want to say, "No"? But the Turks, Jews and heathens also live in the same corporality in which you live, they also use the same bodily strength that you use, in addition they have the same body that you have; and the same God that is your God is also their God.

Then you will say, "But they do not know him and do not honour him." Yes, my dear man, only boast that you have indeed hit upon it; you rathter than others indeed know him. See, blind human, where love rises up in gentleness, there the heart of God rises up.

For you may not ask, "Where is God?" Listen, blind human, you live in God and God is in you: and if you live holily, you are yourself God, wherever you look, there is God.