Page 46 - Eclipse of God

Religion and Reality 19

way, to any extent, no longer exist. His true vis- à- vis, which,
unlike principles and ideals, cannot be described as It, but can
be addressed and reached as Thou, may be eclipsed for man
during the process of elimination; yet this vis- à- vis lives intact
behind the wall of darkness. Man may even do away with the
name “god,” which after all implies a possessive, and which,
if the possessor rejects it, i.e., if there is no longer a “God of
man,” has lost its raison d’être: yet He who is denoted by the
name lives in the light of His eternity. But we, “the slayers,”
remain dwellers in darkness, consigned to death.
According to a Jewish legend, Adam and Eve, when they
rejected God on the day of their creation and were driven out
of the Garden, saw the sun set for the first time. They were
terrified, for they could interpret this phenomenon only as a
sign that the world was to sink back into chaos because of their
guilt. Both of them wept, sitting face to face, the whole night
through, and they underwent a change of heart. Then morning
dawned. Adam rose, caught a unicorn, and offered it as a sac-
rifice in place of himself.