No man ever saw God and liv'd; and yet, I shall not live till I see God; and when I have seen him I shall never dye. What have I ever seen in this world, that hath been truly the same thing that it seemed to me? I have seen marble buildings, and a chip, a crust, a plaster, a face of marble hath pilled off, and I see brick-bowels within. I have seen beauty, and a strong breath from another, tels me, that that complexion is from without, not from a strong constitution within. I have seen the state of Princes, and all that is but ceremony... he that sees God, sees every thing else: when we shall see God... as he is... we shall see all things... as they are; for that's their Essence, as they conduce to his glory. We shall be no more deluded with outward appearances: for, when this sight, which we intend here comes, there will be no delusory thing to be seen. All that we have made as though we saw, in this world, will be vanished, and I shall see nothing but God, and what is in him; and I shall see him In carne, in the flesh...
John Donne, 1572 - 1631 Easter Sermon at Lincoln's Inne
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