We have seen the highest circle of spiraling powers. We have named this circle God. We might have given it any other name we wished: Abyss, Mystery, Absolute Darkness, Absolute Light, Matter, Spirit, Ultimate Hope, Ultimate Despair, Silence. But we have named it God because only this name, for primordial reasons, can stir our hearts profoundly. And this deeply felt emotion is indispensable if we are to touch, body with body, the dread essence beyond logic. Within this gigantic circle of divinity we are in duty bound to separate and perceive clearly the small, burning arc of our epoch.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- We name the highest power God because it stirs our hearts, even if it could be called many other names. Within this divinity, we must recognize our specific time and duty.
- In plain terms
- We call the divine God because it moves us and accept it is more than that name.
- What can you take from it?
- Use the name that moves you but know the mystery is deeper.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- What name do you give the divine?
- What duty does your era demand?
Another view
It assumes emotional response is the best way to define the divine.
More from Nikos Kazantzakis
Amid all these things, beyond all these things every man and nation, every plant and animal, every god and demon, charges upward like an army inflamed by an in…
Permalink to quote #66 I do not care what face other ages and other people have given to the enormous, faceless essence. They have crammed it with human virtues, with rewards and pun…
Permalink to quote #68 Our profound human duty is not to interpret or to cast light on the rhythm of God's arch, but to adjust, as much as we can, the rhythm of our small and fleetin…
Permalink to quote #65
Related quotes
O infinitely human, yet divine! Half clinging childlike to the mother found, Yet half repelling - as the soft eyes say, 'How is it that ye sought me? Wist ye n…
Dinah Maria MulockDinah Maria Mulock quote #50 I need more than a bedtime story, I need more than a youth group God.I am looking for a savior. A guide. An existential answer to my questions about purpose an…
Don MillerDon Miller quote #1 I cannot think we are useless or Usen would not have created us. He created all tribes of men and certainly had a righteous purpose in creating each.
GeronimoGeronimo quote #2