Question:
Have you not heard of that madman who lit a lantern in the bright morning hours...?
?
2014-03-03 23:16:44 UTC
Have you not heard of that madman who lit a lantern in the bright morning hours, ran to the market-place, and cried incessantly: "I am looking for God! I am looking for God!"
As many of those who did not believe in God were standing together there, he excited considerable laughter. Have you lost him, then? said one. Did he lose his way like a child? said another. Or is he hiding? Is he afraid of us? Has he gone on a voyage? or emigrated? Thus they shouted and laughed. The madman sprang into their midst and pierced them with his glances.

"Where has God gone?" he cried. "I shall tell you. We have killed him - you and I. We are his murderers. But how have we done this? How were we able to drink up the sea? Who gave us the sponge to wipe away the entire horizon? What did we do when we unchained the earth from its sun? Whither is it moving now? Whither are we moving now? Away from all suns? Are we not perpetually falling? Backward, sideward, forward, in all directions? Is there any up or down left? Are we not straying as through an infinite nothing? Do we not feel the breath of empty space? Has it not become colder? Is it not more and more night coming on all the time? Must not lanterns be lit in the morning? Do we not hear anything yet of the noise of the gravediggers who are burying God? Do we not smell anything yet of God's decomposition? Gods too decompose. God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. How shall we, murderers of all murderers, console ourselves? That which was the holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet possessed has bled to death under our knives. Who will wipe this blood off us? With what water could we purify ourselves? What festivals of atonement, what sacred games shall we need to invent? Is not the greatness of this deed too great for us? Must we not ourselves become gods simply to be worthy of it? There has never been a greater deed; and whosoever shall be born after us - for the sake of this deed he shall be part of a higher history than all history hitherto."

Here the madman fell silent and again regarded his listeners; and they too were silent and stared at him in astonishment. At last he threw his lantern to the ground, and it broke and went out. "I have come too early," he said then; "my time has not come yet. The tremendous event is still on its way, still travelling - it has not yet reached the ears of men. Lightning and thunder require time, the light of the stars requires time, deeds require time even after they are done, before they can be seen and heard. This deed is still more distant from them than the distant stars - and yet they have done it themselves."
Seven answers:
Annsan_In_Him
2014-03-04 00:30:16 UTC
Your question made me think of the slogan in the Psychiatrist's office; "I don't hate being insane. I love every minute of it." Then I read the story....



No, I had not heard it before, and thanks for sharing. It will be lost on many, but it contains profound truths. The madman was a prophet. And no prophet is accepted on his home turf. Jesus wasn't. And when His fellows crucified Him, they tried to snuff out the Light of the World. "Hands that flung stars into space, to cruel nails surrendered." They thought they'd managed, till three days later when He arose from the grave. Millions still walk by His light, and though the mountains crash and fall into the sea, they will not fear. They are safely held by His nail-pierced hand and nothing can separate them from His love. AiH
?
2014-03-04 07:47:50 UTC
Shame, it was Jesus who was also called mad.

Mark 3:20-23

English Standard Version (ESV)

20 Then he went home, and the crowd gathered again, so that they could not even eat. 21 And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, “He is out of his mind.”



Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit



22 And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.” 23 And he called them to him and said to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan?
2014-03-04 07:25:26 UTC
I like the story of the madman who keeps putting a dead horse on his wagon and blaming it for making him late.
vorenhutz
2014-03-04 07:21:22 UTC
Meh
Rocco J
2014-03-04 07:17:40 UTC
Dude, give it a rest. Seriously.
Emmanuel Beltran
2014-03-04 07:42:46 UTC
hummingbird death
2014-03-04 07:21:37 UTC
too much to read. can I get the cliffsnotes?


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