On Power
XXII. On Power
1. O God, Who art power by reason of <being> powerful!
You would no longer be a glorious God
were power in You to be idle.
2. Power which is capable of goodness,
of infinity and of eternity,
is without limit or quantity.
3. Power which cannot derive its origins
from the principle of bonifying,
cannot suffice for goodness.[1]
4. In God, power, wisdom and will
constitute a single deity
wherein the deified is made possible. [2]
5. Since possifying resides in power,
were deifying not to reside in deity,
power could not be God.[3]
6. Spiritual power
prevails over sensible such,
because it is more capable than its natural counterpart.
7. The power of love is superior
to that of sight or of the imagination,
which is why man should cherish it more.
8. Power is superior when it fosters
good will and good memory
than it is in terms of gold and silver.
9. God wished to give Himself, to the best of His ability,
to our understanding and loving,
for which reason He chose to become incarnate.
10. Who can assess
the power that God has sought to bestow
by means of the sacrament of the altar?
[1] The verb “començar” and the corresponding noun “començament” have here been translated as “derive its origins” and “principle.” For the various senses of these terms, see n. 1, Ch. V, § 6 and Ch. XCIX.
[2] Cf. n. 4, Ch. IX, § 4.
[3] For “possifying,” cf. n. 3, Ch. IX, § 3.