For Abraham went with all zeal and speed and eagerness and bade Sarah (that is Virtue) hasten and knead three measures of meal and make “buried” cakes (Gen. 18:6), when God came attended by His two highest potencies, sovereignty and goodness, and He, the one between the two, called up before the eye of the soul, which has power to see, three separate visions or aspects. Each of these aspects, though not subject itself to measurement—for God and His potencies are alike uncircumscribed—is the measure of all things. His goodness is the measure of things good, His sovereignty of its subjects, and the Ruler Himself is the measure of all things corporeal and incorporeal, and it is to serve Him that these two potencies assume the functions of rules and standards, and measure what lies within their province. It is well that these three measures should be as it were kneaded and blended in the soul, that she, convinced that God who is above all exists—God who overtops His potencies in that He is visible apart from them and yet is revealed in them—may receive the impression of His sovereignty and beneficence. Thus too, being admitted into the inmost mysteries, she will learn not to blab or babble them thoughtlessly, but to store them up and guard them in secrecy and silence. For it is written “make buried cakes,” because the sacred story that unveils to us the truth of the Uncreated and His potencies must be buried, since the knowledge of divine rites is a trust which not every comer can guard aright.
On the Sacrifices of Abel and Cain 15
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