And this, also, I
believe to be true, and rational, and necessary to the Catholic Faith.
But they will tell you again--and this, too, is surely true--that I Am
must be the very name of God, because God alone can say perfectly, "I
Am," and no more. You and I dare not, if we think accurately, say of
ourselves, "I am." We may say, I am this or that; I am a man; I am an
Englishman; but we must not say, "I am;" that is, "I exist of myself."
We must say--not I am; but I become, or have become; I was made; I was
created; I am growing, changing; I depend for my very existence on God
and God's will, and if He willed, I should be nothing and nowhere in a
moment. God alone can say, I Am, and there is none beside Me, and never
has, nor can be. I exist, absolutely, and simply; because I choose to
exist, and get life from nothing; for I Am the Life, and give life to all
things. But you may say, What is all this to us? It is very difficult
to understand, and dreary, and even awful. Why should we care for it,
even if it be true? Yes, my friends; philosophy may be true, and yet be
dreary, and awful, and have no gospel and good news in it at all.
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