He who gives way to such
passions is asleep, while he fancies himself broad awake. His life
is a dream; and like a dreamer, he sees nothing really, only
appearances, fancies, pictures of things in his own selfish brain.
Therefore it is written: "Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from
the dead, and Christ shall give thee life." You may say: Can I
awaken myself? Perhaps not, unless someone calls you. And therefore
Christ calls on you to awake. He says by my mouth: Awake, thou
sleeper, and I will give thee light; awake, thou dreamer, who
fanciest that the sinful works of darkness can give thee any real
profit, any real pleasure; awake, thou sleep-walker, who art going
about the world in a dream, groping thy way on from day to day and
year to year, only kept from fall and ruin by God's guiding and
preserving mercy. Open thine eyes, and let in the great eternal
loving light, wherein God beholds everything which He has made, and
behold it is very good. Open thine eyes, for it is day. The light
is here if thou wilt but use it. "I will guide thee," saith the
Lord, "and inform thee with mine eye, and teach thee in the way
wherein thou shalt go." Only believe in the light. Believe that all
knowledge comes from God.
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