TO GOD

THE BEST AND GREATEST,

TO MY INCOMPREHENSIBLE CREATOR,

It is yours, O Nature naturing Natura naturans: A philosophical term referring to God as the active, creative force of the universe, rather than the physical world itself., infinite and glorious, to regenerate my soul—which is wasting away in ignorance—by the power of your splendor. It is yours, through the wonderful clarity of the Holy Spirit of discipline, to awaken, bring to life, and raise to the true summit or peak of knowledge those sparks of reason remaining after the fall of Adam In early modern thought, the "fall of Adam" was believed to have physically and mentally dimmed human intellect; the author seeks to recover this lost "divine" light., which have been most miserably submerged for a long time in the abyss of bodily darkness. May your will be done in the celestial and immortal part of me, a man, just as it is in the earthly and mortal part, so that whatever is produced by and within them may all, through proper consideration, be a sharer in your goodness. Thus will this heartfelt offering, consecration, and, as it were, sacrifice of mine be pleasing to your most holy divinity. Thus the fruit of your goodness within me—receiving the rays of its own growth, which flow from your bright fountain of total and unique goodness—shall, with your divine Spirit leading the way, fly upward in a true resurrection with its whole self transfigured. Let it rejoice to visit its super-celestial homeland, in which you, Highest Prince and greatest Emperor, live and reign perpetually. Turn the hearts of malevolent readers toward better things, I pray; let them distinguish with open eyes your true light from the darkness of the Devil. Be favorable and gracious to me, O good God, who lives forever.

Your Creature,

I, A MAN.

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