MYSTICISM: First Vision—On The Oright Of Life (7) by Hildegard of Bingen

From: Hildegard of Bingen’s Book of Divine Works, With Letters and Songs Everything God has done was done by the Deity before the beginning of time in the divine present.  In the pure and holy Godhead all visible and invisible things shine before all eternity without a temporal moment and without the elapse of time, just as trees and other bodily things are reflected in adjacent waters without being within them in a bodily fashion, even though their outlines may appear in this mirror.  When God said, “Let it be done!” things were enclosed at once within their forms, just as the divine providence had seen them in an incorporeal way before time was.  Just as everything in front of a mirror shines within that mirror, all the works of the holy Godhead shine within it in a timeless way.  For how should God exist without having prior knowledge of the divine works?  And each divine work, once it has been enclosed within its body, is complete in the function that is appropriate for it.  For the holy Godhead knew in advance how it would assist that work, serving it with knowledge and comprehension.  As a ray of light lets [...]