Haile_Selassie_I-My_Life_and_Ethiopias

Ba Beta Kristiyan Haile Selassie I

My Life and Ethiopia's Progress (1892-1937)

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The Church of Haile Selassie I, Inc.

Ba Beta Kristiyan Haile Selassie I

Emperor Haile Selassie I

A house built on granite and strong
foundations,
not even the onslaught of pouring rain,
gushing
torrents, and strong winds will be able to
pull down. Some people have written the
story of my life, representing as truth
what in fact derives from ignorance,
error, or envy; but they cannot shake the
truth from its place, even if they attempt
to make others believe it. At this hour,
when I have found occasion and time to
write the story of my life, I preface my
writings by presenting the following
prayer to my Creator and then continue
this work.

O Lord, Almighty in whom there is no weakness, eternal in
whom there is no transience; in admiring Your work as well as
Your judgments, a created being, even after much searching,
cannot fathom them - except to limited extent.

It is a subtle secret which a creature, even after much
exploring, cannot know but which You alone do know: why in
the immediate past as well as now You have made the
Ethiopian people, from the ordinary man to the Emperor, sink
in a sea of distress for a time, and why You have made the
Italian people up to its King swim in a sea of joy for a time.

Since no creature created in Your image and in Your pattern
gives up hope that everything he begs of You will be done for
him until the day You sever his soul from his body, we beseech
You that Ethiopia should not remain with her freedom extinct
and prostrate under an alien ruler, so that the mouth of her
peoples be silenced for fear of a foreign governor, but rather
that You will save them by Your deeds of kindness, lest they
remain with their hearts oppressed through being deprived of
their own Ethiopian ruler who was
and with gladness.

O Lord, abode of exiles, light of the blind! Truth and justice
are Your thrones. Receive us who have been exiled for our
freedom's sake, who have had to leave our country on account
of violent assault. In praying to You thus, it is not for our
righteousness but for your great mercies, (DANIEL, Ch 9 Vs
18). And now I am setting out contemplating to write the
story of my life from my thirteenth year until this time, on the
basis of what You have wrought, making me Your instrument.
I pray to You that it may be Your will to let it reach
completion. It is right for me to reveal in this preface the
reason why I have thought to write this, although from You
nothing is hidden.

First, that Your name be praised for all the deeds You do,
acting to Your wishes, Second, when You make a man rich in
the honors of this world and appoint him above other
creatures, that it be known that it is not for his merit but only
through Your benevolence and generosity.

Third, in every line in this history, where the name of another
person is mentioned, it is not through partiality or enmity -
save in error - but You know that we are making our heart the
judge to write only the truth.

Fourth, although there in nothing that is not written in the
Holy Scriptures, if You will enable me to write as I have
planned, may our kin and brothers who will rise up in the
future take note of the word You have spoken "For without me
you can do nothing" (ST JOHN Ch 15 Vs 5). and may their
hearts be convinced that with Your help alone will they be
able to do anything.

Fifth, unless a man discharges his task by his own resolve and
perseverance, conscious of being Your tool, whether in times
of joy or tribulation he should realize that he ought to work by
his innate ability or by such education as he may have
acquired, for his responsibility will not cease even if he acts
solely under another man's will.

Sixth, whatever the task may be, let everyone realize and be
convinced that it will be accomplished at the proper time and
age and that it is impossible to have it fulfilled either by just
desiring it or by hurrying it unduly.

I pray to You that all this may be in full accord with Your will.

My life and Ethiopia's progress (1892-1937)