CHAPTER VII.
1. As mortals sail corporeal ships across the corporeal ocean, so sailed the ship of God inthe atmospherean ocean. As a man having five sons sendeth four away to far-off countriesand keepeth one at home, so did God with the five Lords bequeathed him by GreatJehovih.
2. And now had God departed from the foundation of Hored, in a ship, in heaven to visithis four far-off sons, the Lords of the four great divisions of the earth, who had to do withboth mortals and the spirits of the dead, for the glory of Jehovih.
3. First to Jud, Lord of Jud, he headed his ship, running close to the earth, bounding forth,and sapping up fuel from the tall forests to feed the phosphorescent flame, running easytill the wild coast on the west of Waga was reached. Here halted he his ship, first God ofthe first Lords of earth, till his navigators told the distance of the wide sea before; thengathering fuel and substance from the rich growing lands, he stowed the ship to the full,he and his traveling host.
4. And God went in, commanding: Go forth, go forth! Forth into the sea of heaven! And on plunged the ship of God in the blue winds of the firmament, high soaring,above the black clouds sprung from the corporeal ocean. And the music of histhousand es'enaurs leaped forth in time and tune to the waves, plenteous and most defiant.
5. Jehovih looked down from the highest of all the heavens, His everlasting throne ofthrones, saying: Onward! Onward! Tame the elements, O God! O man! The earth is thine,the air above is thine. Stretch forth thine arm and tame the elements I have made.
6. Onward sped the ship of God, by the force of wills matured; and from its hallowedlight displaying its purpose before other traveling Gods and men, in other ships cruising,on adventurous paths in Jehovih's wide oceans of splendor.
7. Merrily sang the crew, and danced, and sighted the wide expanse, premising of thescattering ships coursing hither and yon, in strange colors and marvelous swiftness.
8. On one side the rising moon, the setting sun on the other; beneath lay the black cloudsand great corporeal ocean; and yet high above twinkled the stars and the planets of theGreat Serpent on his long journey.
9. God came forth and surveyed the scene; and the power of Jehovih moved upon him. Then gathered around him his seven thousand loves and traveling companions. God said:
10. All Thy places are new, Great Jehovih! For thousands of years have I gazed on Thymatchless splendors, seen and unseen; but Thy glory groweth richer day by day. WhenThy voice came to me, more than a hundred years ago, saying: Go, My son, I have a newgarden planted; take some workmen and till the soil; I foresaw the long labor of thegenerations that would spring up out of the earth. I feared and trembled. I said:
11. How shall it be, O Jehovih? Shall the new earth be peopled over, and mortalsrun their course as on other worlds before? First, in wholesome love and worshipand due reverence to the Gods, and then for ages and ages bury themselves inbloody wars? O lead me forth, Father! Jehovih! I will take Thy garden for a season,and fence it round with Lords, and wise kingdoms. And with Thy potent spirit hedgemortals on every side, that the earth shall bloom as a paradise for angels and men.
12. And Thy sons and daughters came with me, and engrafted Thy immortal kingdom.
13. How is it now? How compares my labor with that of other Gods on other worlds?
14. O ye archangels, Gods and Goddesses! Look down on the great earth! Jehovih hathfilled my arms with a great load! I tremble on the immortal scales!
15. And God, transfixed, looked up into the swift-passing sky, for his voice reachedto the thrones of etherean worlds whereon the Osirian regents reigned in all power. And down from admidst the stars shot a single ray of light engrossed with theadorable words: JEHOVIH’SSON!ALL HAIL! HAIL, GOD OF EARTH, JEHOVIH’SSON! GLORY! GLORY TO GREAT JEHOVIH, FOR ALL THOU HAST DONE!
16. Then upward furled the shining light till it faded midst the far-off stars. Anewthe trumpeters and singers sent forth a strain of sweet music, spirited and soundingfull of soul. And as the music glided forth across the waters, lo, other music,strange and welcome, came from the west lands to the borders of the ocean.
17. The ship was across the sea, and the hosts of the Lord had come to meet the Godof earth and heaven. And now, saluting loud and long, the two ships drewto close anchorage. Presently the messengers interchanged, and in Jehovih'sname greeted God and His hosts, who were old-time friends to the Lord and His.
18. God said: By Thy will, O Jehovih, let us take course for the Lord's kingdom and placeof labor. And presently the two ships sped forth, close to the earth, conjoined in the musicof anthems of olden times.
19. Far up into the heart of the country, where fertile lands and mountains and waterswere close companioned to the asuan race, the ships led on till one pillar of fire, standingon a mountain side, proclaimed the place of the Lord, and here they halted and made fastthe vessels, unseen by mortals.
CHAPTER VIII.
1. These chieftains had been long friends on other worlds, and pledged to join in anadventure on some new corporeal world, to raise up to Jehovih, sons and daughters. Nowwas it being fulfilled in the Lord and God remotely situated, and the time of this visitmuch looked forward to.
2. And so God and the Lord came forth, saying: In Jehovih's name! met at last! And theyembraced and re-assured each other that it was really true, which they had talked of athousand years before.
3. And then came forward all the hosts of God and the hosts of the Lord, knowing oneanother and saluting and embracing also. Thereupon they proceeded to the house of theLord, which mortals had been inspired to build of wood and clay. And when they werewithin they joined in prayer and thanks to Jehovih, and they sang and danced, andrejoiced to their souls' content.
4. At sunrise the next morning the mortal priests and priestesses, led by a prophet, wentinto the house of the Lord, to pray and sing and dance as they had been taught byinspiration of the Lord, but many people lingered without, saying to one another:
5. I fear, I fear (ta hop)! For last night I saw lights in the house of the Lord, and I heardlike singing and dancing before the altar of God!
6. Nevertheless their companions persuaded them, and they went in and sang and dancedalso.
7. After a time of rejoicing and of quiet the Lord said: Behold, O God, the follies ofjudgment, and the vain calculations of even Lords and Gods! We look upon the matureman, saying: Alas, he is stubborn in his own way; we cannot convert him. Then we desirethe immature, saying: Him will I raise up in mine own way, and he shall not depart frommy judgment. But we tire of his immaturity and slow growth.
8. God said: Hereon hangeth the highest testimony of The Person of Great Jehovih. Thenearest blank of all the living created He man, purposely unlike all the rest and devoid ofsense. Whereas, according to the order of the other animal world, a newborn babe shouldalready be wise.
9. Jehovih said: All the living have I provided with certain paths to travel in; butman alone I created new out of all things dead and dissolved, and he shall grow forever. To the beast I gave an already created sense (instinct); to man I allotted angels. And even these have I provided with others above them; and yet others above them,forever and ever. Hence the first of man, the newborn babe, I created a blank insense and judgment, that he may be a witness that even he himself was fashionedand created anew by My hand. Neither created I him imperfectly that he shouldre-enter a womb and be born over again. That which I do is well done, saith Jehovih.
10. The Lord said: Thou art wise, O God. The opposites prove Jehovih. Waterrunneth down hill, but man walketh up the hillside; the tree groweth up out of theground whilst it liveth, but after death it falleth. Man standeth on the earth, butthe earth resteth on that which is lighter than the earth. Jehovih saith: The life ofthe tree is of Me; the unseen that holdeth the corporeal earth in its place, is of Me.
11. And yet, O God, who can attain to know Jehovih? The mortal saith: When I am deadand risen in heaven I shall see the Great Spirit; but he faileth, being still helpless, yea, ashelpless in his place as he was helpless on the earth. Then he saith: when I am strong andwise, like Lords and Gods, and can traverse the wide firmament, then I will see Jehovih. But when he riseth and can shape his vessel through the whirlwinds of the vortices ofheaven, and he is called Lord or God, lo, he findeth the arcs and the ethea standing beforehim still. More and more he is appalled at thought of the Great I AM who liveth stillbeyond.
12. He hurrieth down to the corporeal earth to teach mortals and spirits of Jehovih,and His endless worlds and exalted heavens. But lo, the darkness of men, they say: I see Him not; I hear Him not; I believe not in Him. He is but as the wind,going without sense; as the water goeth down the hill, so is He; He is dead. He is nothing.
13. And the Lord inventeth ways and means; yea, he teacheth man to pray and singto Jehovih, that the sounds may lead his soul upward. The Lord telleth him to wearclothes and hide his nakedness from the Lord; and the Lord sendeth angels to awardhim for his good deeds. And the angels of the Lord lay plots and stratagemsin man's pathway to stir him up. Yea, Jehovih gave man sleep, so that his corporeal-boundspirit might see and hear heavenly things. But man loadeth his stomach,and debaucheth on intoxicating smoke and drink till his soul is buried in darkness.
14. And the Lord crieth out in despair; How weak am I, O Jehovih, before Thee! I tookupon me to be Lord over men on the earth, to learn my lesson in the government ofworlds. But O Jehovih, I know I fail in Thy sight. What will Thy God say when hebeholdeth my little good? What pity have the archangels for Thy struggling Lord of earth?
15. God perceived the sorrow of his friend, and he said: O Jehovih, who art Almighty,how keener has Thou made our sense of our own weakness, than those who look upon us! Thy Lord is my God in the glories he hath wrought out of such crude substance,and I sing to his praises and love. Lo I have looked upon the naked man and womanof this great land, crawling on hands and feet, with no thought but to eat, and Ihave seen them raised up by Thy Lord and his ashars, to walk upright and usewords of speech and to wear clothes and skins to hide their nakedness. Yea, O Father, Ihave cried out with great joy, and I called aloud unto Thee, O Jehovih, saying: Whoknoweth the labor of the Lord! Will man ever forget to sing praises to the Lord God?
16. But Jehovih said: I will keep some of the tribes of men in darkness, till the last days;for man in his conceit shall be confounded; for he shall perceive that the tribes ofdarkness cannot put away their own darkness. Yea, man shall bow down in reverence toMy Lords in the early days of the earth.
17. Thus conversed God and his Lord, as they went forth to find the mortals that hadgiven up the places of asu and come to live in villages and cities. Around about over thecontinent of Jud they traveled for many days and nights. And when God had seen all thework of the Lord, he said:
18. Behold it is good. Thy toil and seclusion away from the Lords of the upperheavens are severe, but thou art fashioning the love of millions, who shall bless thee.
19. Now whilst God sojourned hither, his hosts regaled themselves with the company ofthe ashars and asaphs in the kingdom of the Lord, and great was the love and rejoicingamongst them.
CHAPTER IX.
1. When God's visit was ended, and the hosts notified, the Lord gave a banquet thatlasted two days and nights, during which the angels sang and danced and trumpetedbefore God. After that God and his hosts embarked on the ship in readiness to proceed onthe journey; and the Lord went up to the ship to take leave, and his host went with him.
2. God said: When dan approacheth we shall meet again. May Jehovih prosper thyharvests till then!
3. The Lord said: That is another hundred years! O God, I almost live in a wilderness. Ihave not ten millions of souls, mortals and spirits!
4. God said: Thy kingdom shall be mighty when I come again. May it glorify Jehovih!
5. They embraced and separated! Each gave the sign of Jehovih's name. Upward raised theship of God, with banners outstretched, and new ornamented by the Lord's angels. Andnow, taking course still west, sped on above the mountain tops, like a meteor hurled fromheaven. Meanwhile the trumpeters gave forth the gladly solemn sound of the march ofGod.
6. But ere the ship had made half its journey, an approaching light came forth from the farwest, radiant and laden with hosts from the Lord of Dis, and the Lord of the earth also.
7. When the ships drew near and halted, God called with a loud voice, saying: InJehovih's name, all hail! I know my Lord cometh.
8. And thereupon the Lord answered: Hail to thee, O God, Son of Jehovih! Andthey turned the Lord's ship and lashed the twain together even as they sped on.
9. Now after they had all exchanged welcome and good wishes, the Lord said: Ere we goto my central throne let us survey the continent over which thy servant is Lord of land andwater.
10. And God answered: Thy will be done, O Lord. And so they journeyed for manydays, oft descending to the earth in places where the Lord's angels had beguncolonies with mortals, impressing man with words of speech, and to live in villages.
11. And God saw that all he saw was good and well done. So they came to the throne ofthe Lord and halted and sojourned for sixty days.
12. And God and his hosts and the Lord and his ashars and asaphs were togetherin general reunion, praying, singing and dancing and reasoning on the endless worksof Jehovih. But one book could not contain all that was said and done, and of theexcursions made, and the visits over the plains and mountains, where in thousandsof years hence man should live and build cities, and go to war and destroy them.
13. And the mathematicians foretold the great cities and nations that would rise up;how this one and that one would move to battle; how their great cities would fall in ruinsand be covered up by falling nebulae, and by denuding mountains washing downupon them, so that even their remembrance should be lost. And yet, further on, themathematicians foretold the coming of kosmon when the ruined cities would bediscovered and their histories deciphered by the su'is of man in Great Jehovih's hand.
14. And now when all these things were estimated, the prophets and mathematicians wentbefore God according to the commandments of the Lord, and they spake before God, Sonof Jehovih, telling all these wonders.
15. When they had finished, God said: What is our service on the earth, O Lord? A fewcenturies at most, and we will have risen up from the earth, taking our hosts with usto dwell in higher realms. But there shall be other Gods and Lords after us, to dealwith mortals and spirits newly born. After awhile there shall be great warriors andgreat cities and nations; and they shall have Gods and Lords of their times who will dwellmany a weary year, aye, century, in the darkness with man. After that again, even theGods and Lords will be forgotten. And man will turn against Great Jehovih, putting todeath his adherents, preferring idols of stone and metal, and spirits born of woman.
16. The Lord said: And yet further on, a brighter light adorneth the way: GreatJehovih's hand sendeth the traveling worlds into the light of kosmon, and newprophets arise gathering up the histories lost, and glorious plan of the Great Spiritover all. Yea, even thy labor and my ships will be seen by mortals of that day.
17. Thus they discoursed, reading the past and the future, and weighing the present;whilst angels less informed, gathered around to learn how worlds are peopled, and nationsand cities destroyed; the far-off, and the near at hand, being as nothing in Jehovih's vastuniverse.
18. But the time came for God's departure, and he and his traveling host embarked, andthe Lord and his angels drew around to receive God's prayer ere he left. And so after theyhad embraced and parted, God said:
19. Though I go away, my love abideth with you all. And now, O Jehovih, bless these myfellow-laborers, and make them strong to endure their great trials. Thine is the power andglory, O Father! Amen!
20. The ship rose up and the trumpeters gave forth: Glory to Thee, O Jehovih, forever andever!
