3.10.23

Charles Reznikoff: "Spinoza"

He is the stars, 
multitudinous as the drops of rain, 
and the worm at our feet, 
leaving only a blot on the stone; 
except God there is nothing.

God neither hates nor loves, has neither pleasure nor pain; 
were God to hate or love, He would not be God; 
He is not a hero to fight our enemies, 
nor like a king to be angry or pleased at us, 
nor even a father to give us our daily bread, forgive us our trespasses; 
nothing is but as He wishes, 
nothing was but as He willed it; 
as He wills it, so it will be.