d masters, to
deal with him directly themselves, without any mediator, and to
render him such service that he would owe them a recompense. Nothing
will come of such searching. Against its endeavors he has erected
barriers that, with all your striving, you will never be able to
overcome. And so infinite are his wisdom, his counsel and riches,
that you will never be able to fathom nor exhaust them. You ought to
rejoice that he gives you some knowledge of his omnipotence in his
revelation, as follows:

"For of him, and through him, and unto him, are all things. To him be
the glory for ever."

38. Why should we boast, he would say here, when everything that has
being--and our own wisdom and capabilities, of course--did not
originate itself but had its origin in him and must be preserved by
him, must exist through him? He says (Acts 17, 28): "For in him we
live, and move, and have our being." And again (Ps 100, 3): "It is he
that hath made us, and not we ourselves." That is, what we are and
are able to do, and the fact that we live and have peace and
protection--in short, all the good or evil that happens to us--comes
to pass not by accident or chance. It all proceeds from his divine
counsel and good pleasure. He cares for us as his people and flock.
He governs us and gives us good things. He aids and preserves us in
every time of need. Therefore, all honor and glory are due to him
alone, from his creatures.

EVERYTHING IS OF GOD.

39. But when he says, Of him, through him, in him, are all things--he
says in the simplest way that the beginning, middle and end is of
God; that all creatures have their origin in him, also their growth
and their limitations. To illustrate: Every little grain of corn has
its beginning. A root springs from the dead seed in the ground; then
a shoot comes forth and becomes a stalk, a leaflet, an ear of corn,
and here it pauses, having the three parts it is intended to have.
All creatures also have their beginning, their continuation and end,
filling up the period of their existence. When this order ceases,
every creature will cease to exist. That which has a beginning and
grows but does not attain its end, does not reach perfection, is
nothing. To sum it all up, everything must be of God. Nothing can
exist without origin in him. Nothing that has come into being can
continue to exist without him. He has not created the world as a
carpenter builds a house and, departing, leaves it to stand as