{"id":"01KJR8Q6AYPWJNZC6BDA0E3KWS","cid":"bafkreidqog5p3y6wmkgs3a4hd62snbh7unh5o6l5wlfuvshkn7mli2k7bq","type":"text_chunk","properties":{"char_end":113744,"char_start":106156,"chunk_index":15,"chunk_total":89,"estimated_tokens":1897,"source_file_key":"confessions","text":"and other remembrances; and little by little patched me up again with my\r\nold kind of delights, unto which that my sorrow gave way. And yet there\r\nsucceeded, not indeed other griefs, yet the causes of other griefs. For\r\nwhence had that former grief so easily reached my very inmost soul, but\r\nthat I had poured out my soul upon the dust, in loving one that must\r\ndie, as if he would never die? For what restored and refreshed me\r\nchiefly was the solaces of other friends, with whom I did love, what\r\ninstead of Thee I loved; and this was a great fable, and protracted lie,\r\nby whose adulterous stimulus, our soul, which lay itching in our ears,\r\nwas being defiled. But that fable would not die to me, so oft as any of\r\nmy friends died. There were other things which in them did more take my\r\nmind; to talk and jest together, to do kind offices by turns; to read\r\ntogether honied books; to play the fool or be earnest together; to\r\ndissent at times without discontent, as a man might with his own self;\r\nand even with the seldomness of these dissentings, to season our more\r\nfrequent consentings; sometimes to teach, and sometimes learn; long for\r\nthe absent with impatience; and welcome the coming with joy. These and\r\nthe like expressions, proceeding out of the hearts of those that loved\r\nand were loved again, by the countenance, the tongue, the eyes, and\r\na thousand pleasing gestures, were so much fuel to melt our souls\r\ntogether, and out of many make but one.\r\n\r\nThis is it that is loved in friends; and so loved, that a man's\r\nconscience condemns itself, if he love not him that loves him again, or\r\nlove not again him that loves him, looking for nothing from his person\r\nbut indications of his love. Hence that mourning, if one die, and\r\ndarkenings of sorrows, that steeping of the heart in tears, all\r\nsweetness turned to bitterness; and upon the loss of life of the dying,\r\nthe death of the living. Blessed whoso loveth Thee, and his friend in\r\nThee, and his enemy for Thee. For he alone loses none dear to him, to\r\nwhom all are dear in Him who cannot be lost. And who is this but our\r\nGod, the God that made heaven and earth, and filleth them, because by\r\nfilling them He created them? Thee none loseth, but who leaveth. And\r\nwho leaveth Thee, whither goeth or whither fleeth he, but from Thee\r\nwell-pleased, to Thee displeased? For where doth he not find Thy law in\r\nhis own punishment? And Thy law is truth, and truth Thou.\r\n\r\nTurn us, O God of Hosts, show us Thy countenance, and we shall be whole.\r\nFor whithersoever the soul of man turns itself, unless toward Thee, it\r\nis riveted upon sorrows, yea though it is riveted on things beautiful.\r\nAnd yet they, out of Thee, and out of the soul, were not, unless they\r\nwere from Thee. They rise, and set; and by rising, they begin as it were\r\nto be; they grow, that they may be perfected; and perfected, they wax\r\nold and wither; and all grow not old, but all wither. So then when they\r\nrise and tend to be, the more quickly they grow that they may be, so\r\nmuch the more they haste not to be. This is the law of them. Thus much\r\nhas Thou allotted them, because they are portions of things, which\r\nexist not all at once, but by passing away and succeeding, they together\r\ncomplete that universe, whereof they are portions. And even thus is our\r\nspeech completed by signs giving forth a sound: but this again is not\r\nperfected unless one word pass away when it hath sounded its part, that\r\nanother may succeed. Out of all these things let my soul praise Thee,\r\nO God, Creator of all; yet let not my soul be riveted unto these things\r\nwith the glue of love, through the senses of the body. For they go\r\nwhither they were to go, that they might not be; and they rend her with\r\npestilent longings, because she longs to be, yet loves to repose in what\r\nshe loves. But in these things is no place of repose; they abide not,\r\nthey flee; and who can follow them with the senses of the flesh? yea,\r\nwho can grasp them, when they are hard by? For the sense of the flesh is\r\nslow, because it is the sense of the flesh; and thereby is it bounded.\r\nIt sufficeth for that it was made for; but it sufficeth not to stay\r\nthings running their course from their appointed starting-place to the\r\nend appointed. For in Thy Word, by which they are created, they hear\r\ntheir decree, \"hence and hitherto.\"\r\n\r\nBe not foolish, O my soul, nor become deaf in the ear of thine heart\r\nwith the tumult of thy folly. Hearken thou too. The Word itself calleth\r\nthee to return: and there is the place of rest imperturbable, where\r\nlove is not forsaken, if itself forsaketh not. Behold, these things\r\npass away, that others may replace them, and so this lower universe be\r\ncompleted by all his parts. But do I depart any whither? saith the Word\r\nof God. There fix thy dwelling, trust there whatsoever thou hast\r\nthence, O my soul, at least now thou art tired out with vanities.\r\nEntrust Truth, whatsoever thou hast from the Truth, and thou shalt lose\r\nnothing; and thy decay shall bloom again, and all thy diseases be\r\nhealed, and thy mortal parts be reformed and renewed, and bound around\r\nthee: nor shall they lay thee whither themselves descend; but they\r\nshall stand fast with thee, and abide for ever before God, Who abideth\r\nand standeth fast for ever.\r\n\r\nWhy then be perverted and follow thy flesh? Be it converted and follow\r\nthee. Whatever by her thou hast sense of, is in part; and the whole,\r\nwhereof these are parts, thou knowest not; and yet they delight thee.\r\nBut had the sense of thy flesh a capacity for comprehending the whole,\r\nand not itself also, for thy punishment, been justly restricted to\r\na part of the whole, thou wouldest, that whatsoever existeth at this\r\npresent, should pass away, that so the whole might better please thee.\r\nFor what we speak also, by the same sense of the flesh thou hearest; yet\r\nwouldest not thou have the syllables stay, but fly away, that others may\r\ncome, and thou hear the whole. And so ever, when any one thing is made\r\nup of many, all of which do not exist together, all collectively would\r\nplease more than they do severally, could all be perceived collectively.\r\nBut far better than these is He who made all; and He is our God, nor\r\ndoth He pass away, for neither doth aught succeed Him.\r\n\r\nIf bodies please thee, praise God on occasion of them, and turn back\r\nthy love upon their Maker; lest in these things which please thee, thou\r\ndisplease. If souls please thee, be they loved in God: for they too are\r\nmutable, but in Him are they firmly stablished; else would they pass,\r\nand pass away. In Him then be they beloved; and carry unto Him along\r\nwith thee what souls thou canst, and say to them, \"Him let us love, Him\r\nlet us love: He made these, nor is He far off. For He did not make them,\r\nand so depart, but they are of Him, and in Him. See there He is, where\r\ntruth is loved. He is within the very heart, yet hath the heart strayed\r\nfrom Him. Go back into your heart, ye transgressors, and cleave fast to\r\nHim that made you. Stand with Him, and ye shall stand fast. Rest in Him,\r\nand ye shall be at rest. Whither go ye in rough ways? Whither go ye?\r\nThe good that you love is from Him; but it is good and pleasant through\r\nreference to Him, and justly shall it be embittered, because unjustly is\r\nany thing loved which is from Him, if He be forsaken for it. To what end\r\nthen would ye still and still walk these difficult and toilsome ways?\r\nThere is no rest, where ye seek it. Seek what ye seek; but it is not\r\nthere where ye seek. Ye seek a blessed life in the land of death; it is\r\nnot there."},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KJR8NK5DAD726FMQ6JCHGZ5R","peer_label":"confessions","peer_type":"text","predicate":"derived_from"},{"peer":"01KJR8M0JHPZXCPKJ34HTYXSWW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KJR8R5M8VXDW8Z6YHQTCPK14","peer_label":"god","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"divine_being","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T21:55:24.021Z"}},{"peer":"01KJR8RENT5GDAEZJJBSSVRRWR","peer_label":"truth","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"concept","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T21:55:24.021Z"}},{"peer":"01KJR8RV1DQNZ34GARYMR2AN9Y","peer_label":"heaven and earth","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"cosmological_entity","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T21:55:24.021Z"}},{"peer":"01KJR8RVMHXA8RKQES2Q3VBQT4","peer_label":"gods word","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"divine_principle","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T21:55:24.021Z"}},{"peer":"01KJR8RV26HA01641FPKCAYEH1","peer_label":"friends of the speaker","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"group_of_people","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T21:55:24.021Z"}},{"peer":"01KJR8RV270VKTRK7SZX7NF11J","peer_label":"the speaker","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T21:55:24.021Z"}},{"peer":"01KJR8RV3YNKEC2MW949NK29K0","peer_label":"fable of worldly love","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"concept","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T21:55:24.021Z"}},{"peer":"01KJR8RVN0KGDPYSERX6AP2VGG","peer_label":"blessed life","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"concept","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T21:55:24.021Z"}},{"peer":"01KJR8RVVN6V77SX1YB9EV2TSN","peer_label":"souls human","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"concept","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T21:55:24.021Z"}},{"peer":"01KJR8RV3H679Z8ZR44GF194SV","peer_label":"deceased friend","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T21:55:24.021Z"}},{"peer":"01KJR8RVPYE6MACW9TN9RJN45J","peer_label":"lower universe","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"cosmological_entity","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T21:55:24.021Z"}},{"peer":"01KJR8RVK8E2RE66EH8WQM98QZ","peer_label":"gods law","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"concept","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T21:55:24.021Z"}},{"peer":"01KJR8RWDTSWAGY14X8MTZXNRK","peer_label":"soul of the speaker","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"spiritual_entity","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T21:55:24.021Z"}},{"peer":"01KJR8RWH0S5YJDE3QVN2PQNGT","peer_label":"things created","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"concept","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T21:55:24.021Z"}},{"peer":"01KJR8RWE9W1WCTATEAA8THEHP","peer_label":"land of death","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"metaphorical_place","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T21:55:24.021Z"}},{"peer":"01KJR8RWHW2QVVXTWZ09509EFT","peer_label":"transgressors","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"group_of_people","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T21:55:24.021Z"}},{"peer":"01KJR8RWJ78944C88RQN5KFN1D","peer_label":"sorrow","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"emotion","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T21:55:24.021Z"}},{"peer":"01KJR8RX0N49AAB76ATW516X4J","peer_label":"all things","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"concept","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T21:55:24.021Z"}},{"peer":"01KJR8RXME9VSWZN5DCTATCBBK","peer_label":"good concept","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"concept","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T21:55:24.021Z"}}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-03-02T21:54:24.734Z","ts":"2026-03-02T21:55:25.048Z","edited_by":{"method":"system","user_id":"01KJ60XQBHJ0GBGTP9X8HXAPPM"}}