About the union with God [from Part III]
![About the union with God [from Part III]](/woodcuts/1704Luik1/00033364.jpg)
Author: Luiken, Jan, 1649-1712
Image Title: About the union with God [from Part III]
Scripture Reference:
- Romans 6 (further images / scripture text)
Description: Jesus and the Soul, depicted as a young woman in a long dress, are standing in front of a wine press. While Jesus looks on, the Soul pours a drop of water from a carafe in a cask of wine. The Dutch artist and poet, Jan Luiken (1649-1712) was responsible for drawing and etching this emblem and composing the poem that accompanies it.
Poem: The Soul speaks about the pure union with God.
As a drop of water, poured in red wine,
Loses so totally its taste, smell and color;
So must the soul be simply dissolved in God,
And her own will die fully to its foundation;
That is the demand that God makes of all his creatures
Any that raises itself and opposes that, is spat out;
This love acts out of a sincere and pure spirit,
That always before its God leads bowing in smallness.
What folly keeps us from this worthy death?
Oh blissful sinking in a sea of true abundance,
Where poor mankind is handsomely and richly blessed,
And excels all that eternal wisdom imagined.
Behold once right my Soul, findest thou a measure of peace
In the eternal Kingdom, where from so many minds,
Out of so many thousands goes only one WILL,
In the eternal spring and fountain of all good.
My Love, my Bridegroom, my most beautiful Lord!
Oh only eternal ONE, my wealth, my true eminence,
Thou art the only all, and all that I desire,
Whom do I have besides thee in heaven or on earth?
God’s Answer:
He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. John 6:56 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us. (John 27: 21)
I in them, and thou in me. (John 27:23).
(Translation by Josephine V. Brown, with editorial assistance from William G. Stryker)
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