O spectabiles viri / Antiphon for Patriarchs and Prophets

Spectacular men! you see
with the spirit’s eyes,
piercing the veil.
In a luminous shade you proclaim
a sharp living brightness
that buds from a branch
that blossomed alone
when the radical light took root.

Holy ones of old! you foretold
deliverance for the souls
of exiles
slumped in the dead lands.

Like wheels you
spun round in wonder as you spoke
of the mysterious mountain
at the brink of heaven
that stills many waters, sailing
over the waves.

And a shining lamp
burned in the midst of you!
Pointing,
he runs to the mountain.

 — from Symphonia : A crirical Edition of the Symphonia Armonie Celstium Revelatinum by Hildegard of Bingen. Translated by Barbara Newman

*****

Men of low intelligence,
you do not use your head.
Blinded by your mysticism
you fool yourself and others
talking of God in heavens.
What proof of God you have?
It's all foolish imagination.
To believe in the supernatural!
How can it be natural?
You are queer and unnatural
looking for your Father eternal.
Nothing that exists lasts for ever.
Only things not existent are eternal,
and that includes your Father.

- Ravi Kopra