VIII. Responsum Timoris Domini.

VIII. Responsum Timoris Domini.

And again, from that troubled cloud, I heard a voice speaking to that image, giving a response: "Even if you fear nothing, and even if you greedily seize everything, you are the worst evacuation of the worst idol." And what can a person do without the grace of God? Nothing. When a person turns their wheel of knowledge toward vanity, God kills it; but when they lift themselves up toward good, God will help them. But whatever you think, you want to do; but when you start to do something, your head is bowed down, and your feet are lifted up by the judgment of God. You’re ashamed of the washing of baptism and don’t seek the medicine of God; but in all your troubles, you quickly indulge in the vanity of the world, and you desire nothing that gives life. But I honor God by seeing each sin for what it truly is, and when I don't fully grasp how serious it is, I don't flee from it; instead, I sigh in love for God, fear His judgment, and rejoice in His reward. And how will I earn to become a partaker of heavenly joys? Namely, by fleeing the foulness of sin, abandoning the pomp of the world, and taking care that the desires of the flesh do not burn within me, as well as by ensuring that I do not willingly remain in sin. For I do not seek any reason according to the taste of sin, but I will strive to be nourished by them. God will give me what I need from the tree of life, for He will never lack a good work in a good person, no matter how many objections the devil may raise against him. For God Himself has established a good foundation for the good man, which consists of the most holy works, so that he may also be a man of the house of God. So let that person speak and reflect, who also wishes to dwell in the house of God. But you, oh most wicked plague, will be named with no honor at all. I saw a fourth image, having a head like that of a serpent, and a breast feathered like that of a bird, and legs and feet like those of a viper. But its back and tail, along with the rest of its body, were like a crab, and it moved this way and that as if it were being blown by the wind, and it was shaken, striking all the aforementioned darkness; but it also turned toward the North and emitted a great fire from its mouth.