The Household of God
Volume 2
Rise and spiritual prime of the first world empire Hanoch
- Chapter 184 -
GRATITUDE BY MOUTH AND GRATITUDE OF THE HEART. THE CONVERTED LAMECH'S WISH TO CLEAN THE STONE TABLET
When Lamech had fully appeased his hunger, he stood up and said to Kisehel: "Mighty messenger of the almighty, great God! Behold, I have appeased my hunger with the blessed food. My whole being is now imbued with great gratitude towards Him, Who blessed my food and remitted my immense sin before Him and you and before all the people and the entire earth.
2
"But I lack words by which to express this for me so great, but for God and His mercy certainly only empty gratitude.
3
"So teach me dignified words enabling me to express what I am now feeling and in the future shall certainly be feeling even more mightily within me.
4
"O you dear friend of the Most High, behold me in the filth of my misdeeds, and grant me this my wish!"
5
Thereupon Kisehel said to Lamech: "O brother Lamech, you worry about something of very little value before God. Believe me, the Lord, the holy, most loving Father, does not look upon the words, but solely into the heart.
6
The gratitude you are feeling within you like a great flame trying to consume your heart, listen, this gratitude is most pleasing to the Father; with this remain always and forever, and He will always and forever graciously accept your offering.
7
"Behold, when a man receives a great grace from the Father, he soon thanks Him like a great debtor through the ever increasing love-fire in his heart and remains in this purest and truest gratitude until he has rid himself of it by way of mouth, which ridding, however, is nothing surely but a seeming satisfaction for the kindness received.
8
"After such a dutiful acquittal of gratitude the heart becomes lighter and calmer, but the question arises: Does not the heart after such an acquittal lose some of its love-fire, become cooler and thus also in the future less grateful for that received grace for which it acquitted itself by word of mouth as it were of the gratitude which should last?
9
"Oh surely, dear new brother Lamech! Look, both I and you have begotten children and have thus become their fathers as they have become our children.
10
"But I have always found with my children that those who thanked me for almost every word with the mouth, remain the least grateful in their hearts; but the children who remained silent with almost every gift, would have gone through the fire for me at any time, had I demanded it of them.
11
"Although I never or only very seldom heard words of gratitude from their mouth, I saw all the more tears of thanks, joy and praise in their eyes, and, brother Lamech, truly, I liked such a quiet tear in the eye of one of my children more than all the most beautiful words of another tractable child; yes, more than the whole world I treasured such a tear!
12
"For the tractable child has rid itself of its gratitude towards me; but the other, silently thanking, retained the eternal thanks in the heart.
13
This applies also to God Who only looks at the heart and for Whom the lasting gratitude in the heart means endlessly more than a spoken and thus transient one, of which the grateful heart has rid itself through words.
14
"So you too thank the Lord always as you are doing now, and your thanksgiving will be proper in God's sight, Who will take pleasure in your always mightily grateful heart.
15
Therefore, heed this always for your great consolation and you will always be pleasing to the holy Father, Who will rather bestow a thousand graces for such gratitude than a single one for the gratitude of the mouth.
16
"Knowing this and having completely turned to the Lord, you may also determine what has to be done; for behold, this is why we are here, to help you in all good things in whatever way we can! And so reveal to us one of your desires. Amen."
17
And Lamech virtually jumped up with joy and said to Kisehel, very moved: "O friends of God, the almighty Creator of heaven and earth! O you hallowed brother from the heights, which are like a permanent abode of the Almighty, first accept my tears as a token of my heartfelt, everlasting gratitude for your sublime, most wise teaching which you have just given me; for not only is it true in every syllable, but also holy. Yes, there is only one gratitude and one praise in the fullness of truth, and this is eternal! With this I will henceforth remain forever!
18
"As far as my wish is concerned, I have only one. Yes, only one thing bothers me still, and this is the stone tablet which was so abominably desecrated by me. Let me dig it out with my own hands and clean and then highly venerate it if I am at all still worthy of this deed."
19
Thereupon Kisehel said to Lamech: "Look, here are your servants already equipped with digging tools.
20
"Suffice it that you have done this actively in your heart, everything else will be done by these here, and so let us begin this important work. Amen."