Quotes in 'The Fifth Mountain'

[Opening to previous post: 

If you're not familiar with Paulo Coelho, then it's best to explain that his books are wonderful guides for certain moments each one of us face throughout our lives. He has an incredible way of making you think outside of the box and I enjoy the answers he has found to some of the most asked questions during times of despair, loss, and weakness.]

I'm 34-years young and devoted part of my time and life to the Christian Lord and God. Over years I have lost close family and up to recently, my dearest uncle at the age of 54. This makes it extremely difficult to keep or maintain a faith, hope and belief in a God we are taught to trust as 'just and loving'.  

With every life-lesson; questions begin, they become ever-present and lead to more unanswered questions because faith and trust no longer guide you to believe the answers you've always told yourself to trust as true and which have always been ready in times of uncertainty. Not having (any) answers creates increasing doubt and the reality that everything you were brought-up to believe in could simply be just a story starts to set in.

Learning to walk a life without the trust in the Christian Lord and God, perhaps in any God, forms independency and creates a thirst to push yourself to find and maintain your inner strength. It could be that independency and inner strength are mere lessons we need in order to properly hear and apply this knowledge into our every day. If not to keep moving us forward then perhaps, to return our faith and trust in a God by better understanding His reasons for the unpredictable - the unavoidable. 

I've yet to reinstate my trust in the Christian Lord and God. To believe in a Creator who is selfless. And in a destination where ultimate peace is found. 

Which is why it was unusual to continue to read Paulo Coelho's book: 'The Fifth Mountain'.

The following quotes are some that stood out for me:

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 This morning, I had the thought that souls need food. If my soul has not yet perished of hunger, it has something still to say.

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 "If someone asks a favor of me, it is because I still have some use on this earth." she reflected. "I'll do as he asks, if only to relieve his suffering. I too have known hunger; ad know its power to destroy the soul."

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 "There are moments when tribulations occur in our lives, and we cannot avoid them. But they are there for some reason."

"What reason?"

"That is a question we cannot answer before, or even during the trials. Only when we have overcome them do we understand why they were there."

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He heard no reply.

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"Even if it comes to pass, I have doubted myself. I am no longer worthy of my task." answered Elijah.

"Every man hath the right to doubt his task, and to forsake it from time to time; but what he must not do is forget it. Whoever doubteth not himself is unworthy - for in his unquestioning belief in his ability, he commiteth the sin of pride. Blessed are they who go through moments of indecision."

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"You mean that, in your opinion, the same god who sends the storm also made the wheat, even though they are completely different things?"

"Do you see the Fifth Mountain? Elijah asked. "From whichever side you look, it appears different, though it is the same mountain. Thus it is with all Creation: many faces of the same God."

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Custom exists to maintain the world in order. If we meddle with it, the world itself will perish.

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But human beings had sinned, and the gods expelled them; having nowhere to send them, they created the earth surrounding the mountain, so they could cast them there, keep vigil over them, and ensure that they would forever remember that they abided on a plane far inferior to that of the dwellers of the Fifth Mountain. The gods too care, however, to leave open a path of return if humanity carefully followed the way, it would one day go back to the mountaintop. So that this idea would not be forgotten, they charged the priests and the rulers with keeping it alive in the minds of the people. All people shared the same belief: if the families anointed by the gods were removed from power, the consequences would be grave. No one remembered why these families had been chosen, but everyone knew they were related to the divine families. 

The priests' obligation was to preserve this order: the world had a destiny, and it was overturned by laws. The era of attempting to fathom the gods was past; now was the time to respect them and do their will. 

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All that we experience today is fleeting. 

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 The woman filled the two cups. They drank to the sun, which was setting, and to the stars of the heaven. 

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 Love could be a more frightening experience than standing before Ahab's soldier with an arrow aimed at his heart; if the arrow had struck him, he would be dead - and the rest was up to God. But if love struck him, he alone would have to take responsibility for the consequences. 

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 "What are you doing?"

 "I have nothing to do." she replied. 

 "Then learn something. At this moment, many people have stopped living. They do not become angry, nor cry out; they merely wait for time to pass. They did not accept the challenges of life, so life no longer challenges them. You are running that same risk; react, face life, but do not stop living."

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 Every man can sense when he is in danger; he begins to react in strange ways, to have premonitions, to feel something in the air. And he tries to deceive himself, for he thinks himself incapable of confronting the situation. 

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 ... men tried to impose their will by force; they spoke of what they wanted but cared not what the people thought - and all those empires have been destroyed. Our people have grown because they learned how to listen; by listening to what the other person desires and doing whatever was possible to satisfy him.

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 He recalled that several times in the past he had tried to renounce his mission, but he was still there, in the middle of that valley, because this the Lord had demanded. 

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 Make use of every moment so that later thou wilt not regret, nor lament having lost thy youth. To every age in the life of a man, the Lord bestoweth upon him its own misgivings.

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 "Which of us is best at using a sword?" asked one warrior.

 "Go to the place where the spy was stoned yesterday," said the commander. "Pick up a stone and insult it."

 "Why should I do that? The stone would not answer me back."

 "Then attack it with your sword."

 "My sword will break." said the soldier. "And that wasn't what I asked; I want to know who's the best at using a sword."

 "The best is the one who's most like a rock." answered the commander. 

"Without drawing is blade, it proves that no one can defeat it."

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"I'm afraid," the boy said insistently.

"That proves that you find joy in living. It's normal to feel fear at certain moments."

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"Because a man must choose," answered the angel. "Therein lieth his strength: the power of his decisions. Even more difficult is defining a path for oneself. He who maketh no choice is dead in the eyes of the Lord, though he goes on breathing and walking in the streets. 

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"There is no tragedy, only the unavoidable. Everything hath its reason for being: thou needest only distinguish what is temporary from what is lasting."

"What is temporary?" asked Elijah.

"The unavoidable."

"And what is lasting?"

"The lessons of the unavoidable."

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"Because I was afraid. But today, waiting for the battle to start, I heard the governor's words, and I thought of you. Fear reaches only to the point where the unavoidable begins; from there on, it loses its meaning. And all we have left is the hope that we are making the right decision".

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Long ago, the patriot Jacob had encamped, and during the night, someone had entered his tent and wrestled with him until daybreak. Jacob accepted the combat, even knowing that his adversary was the Lord. At morning, he had still not been defeated; and the combat ceased only when God agreed to bless him. 

The story had been transmitted from generation to generation so that no one would ever forget: sometimes it was necessary to struggle with God. Every human being at some time had tragedy enter his life; it might be the destruction of a city, the death of a son, an unproved accusation, a sickness that left one lame forever.

At that moment, God challenged one to confront Him and to answer His question.

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Still, because of His infinite power, He chose to do only Good. If we reach the end of our story, we shall see that often Good is disguised as Evil, but it goes on being the Good, and is part of the plan that He created for humanity.

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