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...