A continuation of our series of postings on the early Christian writings, the mystical Odes of Solomon, written in Apostolic times.
No man O my God changeth Thy Holy Place, nor can he change it and put it in another place.
Because he hath no power over it, for Thy sanctuary Thou hast designed before Thou didst make other places.
That which is the elder shall not be altered by those that are younger than Itself;
Thou hast given Thy heart O Lord to Thy believers.
Never wilt Thou fail, nor be without fruits.
For one hour of Thy faith, is more precious than all days and years.
For who is there that shall put on Thy grace and be rejected?
For Thy seal is known, and Thy creatures are known to it.
And Thy hosts possess it, and the pure archangels are clothed with it.
Thou hast given us Thy fellowship; it was not that Thou wast in need of us, but that we are in need of Thee.
Distill Thy dews upon us, and open Thy rich fountains that pour forth to us milk and honey.
For there is not regret with Thee, that Thou shouldest regret anything which Thou hast promised.
And the end was revealed before Thee.
For what Thou gavest Thou gavest freely, so that no longer wilt Thou draw back and take them again.
For all was revealed before Thee as God, and ordered from the beginning before Thee.
And Thou O Lord hast made all. Alleluia.
–Ode of Solomon 4
About 1960, He Sent Leaness, a book of prayers that people really say in their hearts was shown to me by a friend. She particularly liked the very short one that simply said: “Oh, God, won’t You please stop this awful experiment of trying to make men like Christ?”
These words embody the age-old struggle between God and man: the struggle of God to make man into god and the struggle of man to make God into man, or at least to make him give up and accept man as man and nothing more. Yet, the moment good sense and honesty arises in the questing mind the truth is seen:
- No man O my God changeth Thy Holy Place, nor can he change it and put it in another place.
The Holy cannot be made unholy, the True cannot be made false, the Infinite cannot be made finite, the Unchanging cannot be made changeable, the Divine cannot be made human.
- Because he hath no power over it, for Thy sanctuary Thou hast designed before Thou didst make other places. That which is the elder shall not be altered by those that are younger than Itself.
Although discouraged by the old saying, it is possible to teach your grandmother to suck eggs, but not your God. Do not try.
- Thou hast given Thy heart O Lord to Thy believers.
The unholy can be made holy, the ignorant can be made wise, the finite can be elevated to infinity, the changeable can be made unchanging, and the human can be made divine, for all that is done by God. How? By giving his “heart,” his Consciousness, to those who seek him. It is not God’s grace, love, kindness or mercy we need. We need God. We need to merge with divinity and become divine.
