GEN377 Most common folk and many distinguished people are filled with wonder when observing something they are unaccustomed to seeing – for example, a solar or lunar eclipse, thunder and lightning, thunderbolts, a tempest, and the like. But they feel no wonder at the movements and courses of the spheres – sun, moon, and stars – at sunrise and sunset, the falling of the rain, the blowing of the wind, or similar phenomena that are ever present and are seen regularly. They are awed when they see the ocean, its waves and storms, and the many living creatures in it; but they are not awed by the flow of the rivers and the gush of water from the springs, [flowing] day and night without lull or letup, and by many other such phenomena. Therefore, my brother, you should reflect on all that God has created – what you have grown accustomed to and what you have not grown accustomed to, what you have seen before and what you have never seen. … Pretend that you had been devoid of vision before ever perceiving them, and that only later did you open your eyes, see them, and come to know them. The ignorant resemble the blind, and that, when they gain knowledge, it is as if their eyes are suddenly opened, and they can see! As Scripture says of Adam and Chavah [the verse], though we know that they could see beforehand. DUTIES 747
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