I And Thou

The spirit is truly " in its own realm " if it can confront
the world that is unlocked to it, give itself to this world,
and in its relation with it save both itself and.the world.
The distracted, weakened, degenerated, contradictory
spirituality which to-day represents spirit would be able
to do this only if it were to reach again the life of
spirit which can utter the Thou.

Causality has an unlimited reign in the world of It.
Every " physical" event that can be perceived by the
senses, but also every " psychical" event existing
or discovered in self-experience is necessarily valid as
being caused and as causing. Further, events to which a
teleological character maybe attributed are as parts of the
unbroken world of It not excepted from this causality ;
the continuum to which they belong certainly tolerates a
teleology, but only as the reverse side worked into a
part of causality, and not impairing its continuity tod
completeness.
The unlimited reign of causality in the world of jft,
of fundamental importance for the scientific ordering
of nature, does not weigh heavily on man, who is not
limited to the world of It, but can continually leave it
for the world of relation. Here I and Thou freely confront
one another in mutual effect that is neither connected
with nor coloured by any causality. Here man is assured
of the freedom both of his being and of Being. Only he
who knows relation and knows about the presence of the
Tho'a is capable of decision. He who decides is free,
for he has approached the Face.
The fiery stuff of all my ability to will seethes
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