Reflections Upon The Distress And Agony Of Faith

If you respect yourself and worry about your soul you know you

must live a stricter and more retired life than even a virgin in a

maiden's bower. It is true that there are those who need to be

forced and tamedand who would tumble about like wild beasts in

lustful frenzy if they were left free. It is true and you can see it

now, quite close at your neighbour's house. But you have to show

that you are not one of that kind, by talking about it with anguish

and fear. And talk you must with awe about the holy things, the

great eternal truths, so that they won't be forgotten. If you can't

understand their horrors, nor can you see their greatness.

Now let's consider the distress and agony of the paradox of faith:

The tragic hero acts to gain fame and glory for himself. The knight

of faith gives up his individuality to become the common man,

become"Everyman". It all depends on the will. If you think it's

easy enough to be a single man, sufficient to yourself, you can be

sure you are not a knight of faith.

Wild birds and wandering geniuses are not the true knights. These

know how blessed it is to belong to the common.

The true knight also knows how pleasant and wholesome it is to be

an individual who, so to speak, translates himself into a clean, neat

and flawless edition , readable to each and everyone. He knows that

it is refreshing to be understandable to everybody, as well as he

also understands the common truths, and both of them rejoice in

their shared confidence of the common. He rests assure that it's

pleasant to be born as a separate individual who is at home in the

common, the kind and lasting place on Earth, which will receive

him with open arms, when he finally wishes to rest there. But he

also knows that far beyond this there is a lonely, narrow and steep

path, winding its way through the wilderness. He knows what it

would be like to be born outside the common world and to have to

travel alone without meeting a single soul. He knows quite well

where he is and what his relation to other people is like.

From a human point of view he is insane and can't

communicate with anybody. To put it mildly: he is as mad as a

hatter. If he isn't regarded as such he is a hypocrite and the further

he travels along the way the worse hypocrisy.

The knights of faith know how engulfing it is to give themselves

up for the sake of the common. Courage is needed, but there is

also a feeling of confidence since it is for common man. He knows

what a glorious thing it is to be understood by every truthful noble

man, and by doing so be nobler in the mind himself. All this he

knows and feels as if committed to this faith. He would like to

think that this would be his mission of life...