Now that’s what I want to hear! That’s what I came here to experience! Inspiration, not degradation¹.

You are never degraded unless you think you are. You are never judged or “made wrong” by God.

A lot of people don’t “get” this idea of a God Who says, “There’s no such thing as right and wrong,” and Who pro-claims that we will never be judged.

Well, make up your mind! First you say I’m judging you, then you’re upset because I’m not.

I know, I know. It’s all very confusing. We’re all very. . .  complex. We don’t want Your judgments², but we do. We don’t want Your punishments, yet we feel lost without them. And when You say, as You did in the other two books, “I will never punish you,” we cannot believe that—and some of us almost get mad about that. Because if You’re not going to judge, and punish us, what will keep us walking the straight and narrow? And if there’s no “justice” in heaven, who will undo³ all the in-justice on Earth?

Why are you counting on heaven to correct what you call “injustice”~ Do not the rains fall from the heav-ens?

Yes.

And I tell you this: The rain falls on the just and the unjust alike.

But what about, “Vengeance is Mine, sayeth the Lord”?

I never said that. One of you made that up, and the rest of you believed it.

“justice” is not something you experience after you act a certain way, but because you act a certain way. Justice is an act, not punishment for an act.

I see that the problem with our society is that we seek “jus-tice” after an “injustice” has occurred, rather than “doing jus-tice” in the first place.

Right on the head! You’ve hit the nail right on the head!

justice is an action, not a reaction.

Do not, therefore, look to Me to somehow “fix eve-rything in the end” by imposing⁴ some form of celestial⁵ justice in the “afterlife.” I tell you this: There is no “after-life,” but only life. Death does not exist. And the way you experience and create your life, as individuals and as a society, is your

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1 degradation
n.降级；低落；退化；陵削；降解；衰变
参考例句：
There are serious problems of land degradation in some arid zones.在一些干旱地带存在严重的土地退化问题。 Gambling is always coupled with degradation.赌博总是与堕落相联系。

2 judgments
判断( judgment的名词复数 )； 鉴定； 评价； 审判
参考例句：
A peculiar austerity marked his judgments of modern life. 他对现代生活的批评带着一种特殊的苛刻。 He is swift with his judgments. 他判断迅速。

3 undo
vt.解开，松开；取消，撤销
参考例句：
His pride will undo him some day.他的傲慢总有一天会毁了他。 I managed secretly to undo a corner of the parcel.我悄悄地设法解开了包裹的一角。

4 imposing
adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的
参考例句：
The fortress is an imposing building.这座城堡是一座宏伟的建筑。 He has lost his imposing appearance.他已失去堂堂仪表。

5 celestial
adj.天体的；天上的
参考例句：
The rosy light yet beamed like a celestial dawn.玫瑰色的红光依然象天上的朝霞一样绚丽。 Gravity governs the motions of celestial bodies.万有引力控制着天体的运动。

6 demonstration
n.表明，示范，论证，示威
参考例句：
His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。 He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。

7 fumble
vi.笨拙地用手摸、弄、接等，摸索
参考例句：
His awkwardness made him fumble with the key.由于尴尬不安，他拿钥匙开锁时显得笨手笨脚。 He fumbled his one-handed attempt to light his cigarette.他笨拙地想用一只手点燃香烟。

8 brink
n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿
参考例句：
The tree grew on the brink of the cliff.那棵树生长在峭壁的边缘。 The two countries were poised on the brink of war.这两个国家处于交战的边缘。

9 outstrip
v.超过，跑过
参考例句：
He can outstrip his friend both in sports and in studies.他能在体育和学习方面胜过他的朋友。 It is possible for us to outstrip the advanced countries in the world.我们能超过世界上先进的国家。

10 verge
n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临
参考例句：
The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。 She was on the verge of bursting into tears.她快要哭出来了。

11 irony
n.反语，冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事，嘲弄
参考例句：
She said to him with slight irony.她略带嘲讽地对他说。 In her voice we could sense a certain tinge of irony.从她的声音里我们可以感到某种讥讽的意味。

12 breakdown
n.垮，衰竭；损坏，故障，倒塌
参考例句：
She suffered a nervous breakdown.她患神经衰弱。 The plane had a breakdown in the air,but it was fortunately removed by the ace pilot.飞机在空中发生了故障，但幸运的是被王牌驾驶员排除了。

13 bliss
n.狂喜，福佑，天赐的福
参考例句：
It's sheer bliss to be able to spend the day in bed.整天都可以躺在床上真是幸福。 He's in bliss that he's won the Nobel Prize.他非常高兴，因为获得了诺贝尔奖金。

14 perfectly
adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地
参考例句：
The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。 Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

15 setback
n.退步，挫折，挫败
参考例句：
Since that time there has never been any setback in his career.从那时起他在事业上一直没有遇到周折。 She views every minor setback as a disaster.她把每个较小的挫折都看成重大灾难。

16 proliferating
激增( proliferate的现在分词 )； （迅速）繁殖； 增生； 扩散
参考例句：
Computerized data bases are proliferating fast. 计算机化的数据库正在激增。 Crown galls are cancerous growths composed of disorganized and proliferating plant cells. 冠瘿是无组织的正在不断增殖的植物细胞所组成的癌状物。

17 primitive
adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物
参考例句：
It is a primitive instinct to flee a place of danger.逃离危险的地方是一种原始本能。 His book describes the march of the civilization of a primitive society.他的著作描述了一个原始社会的开化过程。

18 disarm
v.解除武装，回复平常的编制，缓和
参考例句：
The world has waited 12 years for Iraq to disarm. 全世界等待伊拉克解除武装已有12年之久。 He has rejected every peaceful opportunity offered to him to disarm.他已经拒绝了所有能和平缴械的机会。

19 lasting
adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持
参考例句：
The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。 We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

20 dismantling
（枪支）分解
参考例句：
The new government set about dismantling their predecessors' legislation. 新政府正着手废除其前任所制定的法律。 The dismantling of a nuclear reprocessing plant caused a leak of radioactivity yesterday. 昨天拆除核后处理工厂引起了放射物泄漏。

21 ecosystem
n.生态系统
参考例句：
This destroyed the ecosystem of the island.这样破坏了岛上的生态系统。 We all have an interest in maintaining the integrity of the ecosystem.维持生态系统的完整是我们共同的利益。

22 genetically
adv.遗传上
参考例句：
All the bees in the colony are genetically related. 同一群体的蜜蜂都有亲缘关系。 Genetically modified foods have already arrived on American dinner tables. 经基因改造加工过的食物已端上了美国人的餐桌。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 基因与食物

23 boon
n.恩赐，恩物，恩惠
参考例句：
A car is a real boon when you live in the country.在郊外居住，有辆汽车确实极为方便。 These machines have proved a real boon to disabled people.事实证明这些机器让残疾人受益匪浅。

24 resistant
adj.(to)抵抗的，有抵抗力的
参考例句：
Many pests are resistant to the insecticide.许多害虫对这种杀虫剂有抵抗力。 They imposed their government by force on the resistant population.他们以武力把自己的统治强加在持反抗态度的人民头上。

25 poised
a.摆好姿势不动的
参考例句：
The hawk poised in mid-air ready to swoop. 老鹰在半空中盘旋，准备俯冲。 Tina was tense, her hand poised over the telephone. 蒂娜心情紧张，手悬在电话机上。

26 jersey
n.运动衫
参考例句：
He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。 They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

27 awaken
vi.醒，觉醒；vt.唤醒，使觉醒，唤起，激起
参考例句：
Old people awaken early in the morning.老年人早晨醒得早。 Please awaken me at six.请于六点叫醒我。

28 invoke
v.求助于(神、法律)；恳求，乞求
参考例句：
Let us invoke the blessings of peace.让我们祈求和平之福。 I hope I'll never have to invoke this clause and lodge a claim with you.我希望我永远不会使用这个条款向你们索赔。

29 dire
adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的
参考例句：
There were dire warnings about the dangers of watching too much TV.曾经有人就看电视太多的危害性提出严重警告。 We were indeed in dire straits.But we pulled through.那时我们的困难真是大极了，但是我们渡过了困难。

30 manifestation
n.表现形式；表明；现象
参考例句：
Her smile is a manifestation of joy.她的微笑是她快乐的表现。 What we call mass is only another manifestation of energy.我们称之为质量的东西只是能量的另一种表现形态。

31 wondrous
adj.令人惊奇的，奇妙的；adv.惊人地；异乎寻常地；令人惊叹地
参考例句：
The internal structure of the Department is wondrous to behold.看一下国务院的内部结构是很有意思的。 We were driven across this wondrous vast land of lakes and forests.我们乘车穿越这片有着湖泊及森林的广袤而神奇的土地。

32 playwrights
n.剧作家( playwright的名词复数 )
参考例句：
We're studying dramatic texts by sixteenth century playwrights. 我们正在研究16 世纪戏剧作家的戏剧文本。 来自《简明英汉词典》 Hung-chien asked who the playwrights were. 鸿渐问谁写的剧本。 来自汉英文学 - 围城

33 lyrics
n.歌词
参考例句：
music and lyrics by Rodgers and Hart 由罗杰斯和哈特作词作曲 The book contains lyrics and guitar tablatures for over 100 songs. 这本书有100多首歌的歌词和吉他奏法谱。

34 derives
v.得到( derive的第三人称单数 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取
参考例句：
English derives in the main from the common Germanic stock. 英语主要源于日耳曼语系。 来自《简明英汉词典》 He derives his income from freelance work. 他以自由职业获取收入。 来自《简明英汉词典》

35 simplicity
n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯
参考例句：
She dressed with elegant simplicity.她穿着朴素高雅。 The beauty of this plan is its simplicity.简明扼要是这个计划的一大特点。

36 unity
n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调
参考例句：
When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。 We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

37 lesser
adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地
参考例句：
Kept some of the lesser players out.不让那些次要的球员参加联赛。 She has also been affected,but to a lesser degree.她也受到波及，但程度较轻。

38 variance
n.矛盾，不同
参考例句：
The question of woman suffrage sets them at variance. 妇女参政的问题使他们发生争执。 It is unnatural for brothers to be at variance. 兄弟之间不睦是不近人情的。

39 acting
n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的
参考例句：
Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。 During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

40 martyr
n.烈士，殉难者；vt.杀害，折磨，牺牲
参考例句：
The martyr laid down his life for the cause of national independence.这位烈士是为了民族独立的事业而献身的。 The newspaper carried the martyr's photo framed in black.报上登载了框有黑边的烈士遗像。

41 condemnation
n.谴责; 定罪
参考例句：
There was widespread condemnation of the invasion. 那次侵略遭到了人们普遍的谴责。 The jury's condemnation was a shock to the suspect. 陪审团宣告有罪使嫌疑犯大为震惊。

42 sentient
adj.有知觉的，知悉的；adv.有感觉能力地
参考例句：
The living knew themselves just sentient puppets on God's stage.生还者认识到，他们不过是上帝的舞台上有知觉的木偶而已。 It teaches us to love all sentient beings equally.它教导我们应该平等爱护一切众生。

43 martyrs
n.martyr的复数形式；烈士( martyr的名词复数 )；殉道者；殉教者；乞怜者（向人诉苦以博取同情）
参考例句：
the early Christian martyrs 早期基督教殉道者 They paid their respects to the revolutionary martyrs. 他们向革命烈士致哀。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

44 exterior
adj.外部的，外在的；表面的
参考例句：
The seed has a hard exterior covering.这种子外壳很硬。 We are painting the exterior wall of the house.我们正在给房子的外墙涂漆。

45 aspirin
n.阿司匹林
参考例句：
The aspirin seems to quiet the headache.阿司匹林似乎使头痛减轻了。 She went into a chemist's and bought some aspirin.她进了一家药店，买了些阿司匹林。

46 abbreviate
v.缩写，使...简略，缩短
参考例句：
She had lost the power to abbreviate the remaining steps of the way.她丧失了缩短这最后几步路的能力。 It is seldom acceptable to abbreviate words in formal writing.在正式的书面语中使用缩写语通常是不能接受的。

47 indigenous
adj.土产的，土生土长的，本地的
参考例句：
Each country has its own indigenous cultural tradition.每个国家都有自己本土的文化传统。 Indians were the indigenous inhabitants of America.印第安人是美洲的土著居民。

48 savage
adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人
参考例句：
The poor man received a savage beating from the thugs.那可怜的人遭到暴徒的痛打。 He has a savage temper.他脾气粗暴。

49 erase
v.擦掉；消除某事物的痕迹
参考例句：
He tried to erase the idea from his mind.他试图从头脑中抹掉这个想法。 Please erase my name from the list.请把我的名字从名单上擦去。

50 bungalows
n.平房( bungalow的名词复数 )；单层小屋，多于一层的小屋
参考例句：
It was a town filled with white bungalows. 这个小镇里都是白色平房。 来自《简明英汉词典》 We also seduced by the reasonable price of the bungalows. 我们也确实被这里单层间的合理价格所吸引。 来自互联网