The Natural Sun
Announcements about our sun and its natural conditions
- Chapter 32 -
Divine service and nuptials upon the first pair of sub-equatorial belts
Regarding religion there are throughout these two belts no ceremonial or, as it were, outwardly visible ceremonial religious sacraments, for the inhabitants of these belts are its most resolute adversaries because according to their most carefully weighed maxims, something externally material is as little capable of being welded to something spiritual as would be the ciphers two and seven.
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For this reason, no man upon these belts shall notice something which taken externally should offend him in something more exalted. For this reason, there is no holiday or Sabbath time found among them.
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Therefore these inhabitants have no time-measuring devices of any kind and hence no period-determinations, saying: time-determination is in the hands of the highest Spirit. Man should not measure that for which God has given him no measuring instrument and furthermore: the great worlds Master builder has stretched our world out before us and through the areas, given every man a hint to measure these. But for time duration He has nowhere set down a measure; hence man should not cut same up with his self-will. He has indeed given us a measure and it is everyone's life to himself. Furthermore, He has drawn a measure over the wide heavenly canopy and distant worlds move in accordance with same, and our world itself moves in accordance with this great gauge. But He has placed in our hands no compass for one or the other, so that we should divide and measure same.
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Wherefore the inhabitants of this belt don't concern themselves with time and some take this so far as to not know which of their grownup children is the oldest. They determine age by spiritual maturity, although sometimes by body weight.
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From this you will gather that there can be no talk of a Sabbath.
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Wherein therefore does this religion consist, if no external signs of it are to be seen? By their principles, everything they do is divine service. To this end the wise men upon this belt teach all people the following premise: we did not come into being by ourselves but the power of the highest wisdom of God has shaped us thus and set us down upon this ground. It is this power that constantly guides and sustains us and we are perpetually in His wisest hand. If this power has however thus formed us, maintaining, guiding and taking care of us, how and when should we carry out some work without being reminded with every movement that we are only carrying it out and want to do so as a service to Him, who constantly provides us with the power to do work?
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Hence no one should think as if they acted out of themselves, but let everyone do everything for Him who has always provided him with the force. Wisdom and faithful deeds in accordance therewith is true divine service. Hence everyone should forthwith do what his ordered wisdom has recognized as the right thing. And so we intend always to serve Him whose highest wisdom has so determined it, setting us aims through which we achieve these, His very aims, by recognizing His order.
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Hence we should serve God with every breath of our lungs and each of our steps should be well measured and weighed. For we recognize through everything, that God in Himself is the most perfect order.
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Whoever therefore accords with this order in all his actions, serves God and whoever thoughtlessly transgresses it, not keeping in mind the measure of his steps and hands, is like a foolish fruit that would thrust its roots into the air and its branches into the earth. The branches shall indeed with time also sprout roots, yet the roots shall nevertheless not turn into branches and produce any useful fruit.
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In childhood a person takes only small steps, his feet not yet able to strike a measure, as these in themselves have no capacity for proportion yet, still being too weak for proper movement. However when the child has fully matured, gaining the condition of a grownup, then his feet will also gained the right measure with which to gauge large areas. Therefore every person has to begin with his own weakness and progressively learn to assess himself. Once he finds his own measure, he shall with this, be able to take God's proper measure.
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The measure however is order. He cannot recognize God's highest order until recognizing his own order. If he has' not done so, all his doing is in vain for how could a deed have worth if carried out by one who knows not what he does?
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Wherefore nobody should do something for which he has no measure. Once he has the right measure then let him act accordingly, for the right measure is God's order, according to which all are called to act.
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Behold, this is the first religious principle of these equatorial inhabitants. They therefore are perpetual servants of God and their entire life span therefore is an uninterrupted Sabbath.
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For this reason the entire household and their activity is assessed thereby. Since they recognize God as the highest Order, they don't wish to contravene this in any way.
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Only one act can be regarded as a kind of religious sacrament and that is the nuptial band between two spouses. When they want to enter into union the following procedure is adopted: the man first chooses an extremely well formed being and on finding same he at once goes to the parents of this female being saying to the father, who is asked by him to come out of the house: "I have looked at your daughter's face and am well pleased. If agreeable let me search the order of her heart."
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The father then approaches the courtier with measured steps saying: show me the measure of your foot and your hand and I shall then guide you into my house and let you see the full measure of my daughter. Here the courtier then always stretches out his hands and as far as possible, his feet. The father then measures his hands and feet and if he finds them good he guides the courtier with well-measured steps into his dwelling and lets him recognize his daughter's measure.
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If this now matches that of the courtier, then he gives away his daughter to the courtier without the least objection. If the measure does not match however, then the courtier steps back at once for the daughter's measure was of an odd measure in relation to his.
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If however the courtier has taken the bride of well-matched measure, he leads her away from the stated circle of strict order, awaiting the entire little flock from this house to follow him.
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When they have come away from the strict circle all get down on the ground and praise the great God for letting the suitor find a well-matched bride. After such praise they all rise and the father lays his hands upon the newlyweds saying: "God's order has brought you together, abide within this order now and forever! And when God provides you with descendants, then lead them into the same order through which you yourselves became (an) order."
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Whereupon the father and his little flock retreat to his dwelling whilst the bridegroom leads his bride to his parent's home. Reaching the circle of order, his parents and siblings at once meet him with open arms, leading the pair into the house.
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Here too the father lays his hands upon the newlyweds saying the same words as the bride's father. After this God is given praise again and a well prepared meal is consumed.
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After the meal the bridegroom with his bride accompanied by his parents, if still alive, otherwise with a brother and a sister, move to a cooperative, the one to whose region such landowners belong. There the bridal pair receives a new name from the chief wise man and they are also shown where they can set up a new possession.
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The bridal pair then stays, diverting themselves spiritually as well as outwardly, until through clever builders of this cooperative, a dwelling and its ground are made ready. The newlyweds are then provided with all sorts of fruit saplings and move to this new dwelling accompanied by sundry wise men. They are then provided with food by the cooperative until their own plantation bears ample fruit, which by your measure would be about a year at the most.
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The two parents or siblings, then return to their own domicile as soon as the chief wise man has cared for the bridal pair. In the dwelling, neither children nor parents or neighbours visit each other, but do so frequently in the colleges or the courtyards before the dwellings, cheerfully in reunion.
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Behold, only these ceremonials can, to a certain extent, be regarded as purely external, visible sacraments and that on account of them having initially an outward measure, because with every other deed, the inner thoughts and feelings have to first be examined before proceeding to an outward action, which nonetheless is still so constituted, that it depends more on an inner spiritual than outward action of the hands.
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Here you will also want to hear something about begetting children and also people dying, but for these two events I refer you to the solar, central equator. In this, the two sub-equatorial belts fully resemble the central equator, as well as the two sub-belts with each other. And so we know everything noteworthy about these two equators and intend next time to move to the two neighbouring belts. And therewith all for today.