Letters of Madam Guyon Part 7

The difference between these two states is, as that of water, retained in the air by a machine, and of a river, running naturally into the sea, as ordered by the grand Architect of the universe. Love, which carries the will in its train, changes the whole man; this is the divine, the true ecstasy. This is what is called transformation, and loss of the soul in G.o.d. It is certain, however, that the creature always remains a being distinct from G.o.d.

A VIEW OF SELF.

The activity of the natural selfish life, is the greatest obstacle to your progress. Allow of nothing which gives sustenance to this life.

Be on your guard against applause. Applaud not yourself when you have done well. Admit no reflections in regard to the good you have accomplished, so that all that nourishes self-complacency may die.

Possess your soul in peace as much as possible; not by effort, but by ceasing from effort; by letting go everything that troubles you. Be quiet, that you may settle, as we leave water to settle when agitated.

When you discover your errors and sins, do not stop, under whatever good pretext, to remedy them. Rather abandon yourself at once to G.o.d, that he may destroy, in you, all that its displeasing to him. I a.s.sure you, you are not capable of yourself, to correct the least fault. Your only remedy is abandonment to G.o.d, and remaining quiet in his hands.

If you discovered the depth of inward corruption in your heart, your courage would fail! On this account, G.o.d conceals from us, in part, the view of our sins, and discovers them to us, only as he destroys them.

Rest a.s.sured, G.o.d loves you. He will take care of you. Have faith in his love and mercy. You will see farther by and by. When you are in trouble, do not fail to write me. Have good courage, and all will be well. You are very dear to me in our Lord.

STATE OF A SOUL IN UNION WITH G.o.d.

Although, in the latter part of my life, I do not perceive those marked states of abandonment and submission, neither of interior sorrows, such as I formerly experienced, this does not prove that these distinct states no longer exist; but the soul having become more fully established in G.o.d, it makes less account of them, or is less affected by external impressions. As pure flowing water leaves no trace where it pa.s.ses, so these _distinct_ states leave no durable impression. The soul seems to have lost its own qualities of resistance and aversion, and runs, without ceasing into its Original. It is on this account I cannot write so fully of my states of mind as formerly. My soul, in its depths, rests in G.o.d. "My peace, says Christ, _I give unto you_."

I pray for the church; I mourn at times that G.o.d is so little known and loved; but these feelings are transient, and the soul is ready to take any impression that G.o.d gives it. While it seems to have no consistency of its own, so to speak, it adapts itself to the state of others with wonderful facility. Sometimes even relating amusing stories, to children, and to those who cannot be entertained in any other way.

The soul, in this state of union with G.o.d, is sometimes permitted to foretell things to come, which appear very obscure to man, but which are, nevertheless, infallibly true, because proceeding from G.o.d. The knowledge of the event, and its full explanation, will come in the fulness of time. The soul is ready for anything; ready for nothing. All that is true comes from G.o.d; what is not true, from the creature. The soul does not seek to justify itself, nor produce humiliation, but pa.s.ses on, disregarding self, and absorbed in G.o.d.

STATE OF REST IN G.o.d.

If I do not reply to you, Dear Sir, as soon as you might expect, it is because I hold myself in reserve, until I have a movement to write, and not from any want of regard to you. Relative to the distinct, voluntary acts of resignation, renouncement, it would be difficult, in my present state, to make such acts, because such acts would seem to imply something of self-appropriation still remaining; whereas, I have given to my Sovereign, all that I am; and as far as I know, I have nothing more to give him. My soul is at rest in his will.

It is the same in regard to prayer, or pet.i.tions. The soul having a very simple method of prayer, all other prayer seems foreign to it.

When it would make a request, and as soon as the soul knows distinctly what it demands, there is something which goes before to accomplish it, without the utterance of words. When the soul utters words, or makes pet.i.tions, if the spirit accompanying approves, the prayer is made with ease. If the spirit do not cooperate, the words are uttered with difficulty, or not at all. G.o.d takes the place of self in the soul, and there prays for things agreeable to his will. This is a state of the soul, in which it has no desire to originate prayer, but loves to be silent in the presence of G.o.d. This is an experience more satisfactory than I am able to express. O, that all the earth knew what it means to keep silence before the Lord!

GREAT HUMILIATIONS.

I have a clear discernment of your state. It seems to me, I see it in some measure as G.o.d sees it; that is, in the pure light of truth,--the reasons why you suffer, and the blessed results of these sufferings. I have known that the period of discipline would be long, and very long, because you suffer not only on your own account, but also for the benefit of others. G.o.d destines you to accomplish great things for his glory, and exterior humiliations in your case not being suited to his designs, he makes use of concealed humiliations, known only to yourself and G.o.d. I will repeat to you the words addressed by our Lord to St.

Paul. "My grace is sufficient for thee; my strength is made perfect in weakness."

It will be in companions.h.i.+p with humiliations, that you will be saved from falling into sin and error, and be prepared to be come a vessel fit for the Master's use. You will experience from time to time, a return of these humiliating states, and when you may think they have entirely pa.s.sed away, they will suddenly revive. But the greater your humiliation, the more G.o.d will use you to perform his most excellent works. In this state of entire self-reduction and humiliation, your words will be clothed with power.

"I am come," says our Lord, "to bring fire on the earth." O martyr of Pure Love,--_a sacrifice_ for the good of others, what if the fires be already kindled in your bosom, shrink not! If you were less to G.o.d, he might spare you.

Do not hesitate to speak to me of your sufferings, because it appears to you useless. It is not so. If you speak of them in simplicity, your heart will be relieved, and strengthened. I know how to sympathise with you. G.o.d bless you.

REPOSE OF THE SOUL IS G.o.d.

Having given up myself wholly to G.o.d, and loving Him far better than myself, how can I find any opposition to his good pleasure? How can I do otherwise than yield to one I love better than myself? How can a soul withdraw from the dominion of a Sovereign, that it loves with the whole heart? "What can separate us from the love of G.o.d, in Christ Jesus?" Although, while we remain in this life, there is a possibility of sinning, and of separation from G.o.d, and it is true, that the soul remains in oneness with Him, only by the continuance of his mercy, and that if he should leave it, it would immediately fall into sin, yet I cannot have the least fear, that my G.o.d will leave me, or that I shall ever separate myself in any degree from his love.

The creature can take no glory to itself, to whatever state it may arrive. O that you might comprehend what I cannot express--the sense I have of the goodness of G.o.d, to keep what is his own! How jealous, how watchful he is over the soul! G.o.d seems so truly all things to me, that I seem to see nothing, to love nothing, relish nothing, only what he causes me to see, love and relish in himself. I am only capable of loving and submitting to him, so much is he my life. I believe G.o.d blindfold, without questioning or reasoning. _G.o.d is_; this is sufficient. How immense is the freedom of the soul in him! O may you not doubt, that when all of self is taken away from the creature, there remains only G.o.d. O G.o.d, can I have any self-interest, or appropriate aught as mine? In what can I take it? How strange the thought! how far removed from the possession of G.o.d! I am lost. G.o.d is.

POWER OF CASTING OUT EVIL SPIRITS.

Although for many years, profound truths have been revealed to me, and G.o.d has manifested his power through me, in an extraordinary manner, my state has invariably been one of infancy, simplicity and candor. G.o.d's grace has rendered me equally willing to lie concealed, or to execute his will more publicly. During seven years, without my knowing how it was accomplished, as soon as I have approached some persons, possessed by demons, the evil spirits have departed. I have realised simply a desire to relieve them, and this desire, or prayer, has been answered in a way unknown to myself. Of myself, I have no goodness nor power at all. I have only the capacity of a child--of letting myself be used by G.o.d, as pleases Him. My life appears natural. I am encompa.s.sed with infirmities. My health is greatly impaired. My infirmities are a balance-wheel, a counterpoise to exaltation. Yet life is ever flowing, without any thought of the means of sustaining it, as we live in the air, without thinking of the air we breathe.

STATE OF A SOUL RE-UNITED TO G.o.d.

In reply to your enquiry, my dear children, concerning my state, I would say, that exteriorly, I am open, simple, childlike. My interior resembles a drop of water, mingling and lost in the ocean, and no more discerning itself,--the sea not only surrounding, but absorbing it. In this divine immensity, the soul discerns and enjoys all objects in G.o.d.

All is darkness and obscurity in respect to itself; all is light on the part of G.o.d. Thus, _G.o.d is all_ to me. This has been my state more than thirty years, although in latter years I have realized greater depths in these experiences. Think of the bottomless sea; what is thrown therein, continues sinking, without ever reaching the end. Thus divine love is the weight of the soul, that sinks it deeper and deeper in G.o.d. "G.o.d is Love, and he who dwells in love, dwells in G.o.d, and G.o.d in him." O immensity!

Jesus Christ, the embodiment of truth and love, has explained the Scriptures by fulfilling them. So when the soul has pa.s.sed into G.o.d, the Word is fulfilled in the soul, as it was in Christ. O Love! thou art thyself the pure, naked, simple truth, which is expressed, not by me, but by thyself, through me. Amen.

CONCISE VIEW OF THE INTERIOR WAY.

_The soul seeks G.o.d in faith not by the reasonings of the mind and labored efforts, but by the drawings of love; to which inclinations G.o.d responds, and instructs the soul, which co-operates actively. G.o.d then puts the soul in a pa.s.sive state, where he accomplishes all, causing great progress, first by way of enjoyment, then by privation, and finally by pure Love._

What do we understand by the Interior way? It is to seek the kingdom of G.o.d within us. Luke 17, 21. We find this kingdom only where G.o.d has placed it, _within the soul_. It becomes necessary, then, to withdraw the eyes of the soul from external landmarks and observations, which man, in the pride of reason, has located around it, and rest the eye in faith, on the Word of the Lord,--"_Seek and ye shall find_."

This seeking, involves an interior activity of the soul; a desire, a determination, and searching after what is hidden.

When the soul has thus earnestly sought the kingdom of G.o.d within, this kingdom is developed little by little. Interior recollection becomes less difficult, and the presence of G.o.d more perceptible and agreeable.

Formerly it was supposed, that the presence of G.o.d was only the thought of G.o.d, and that it was necessary to force the mind--to concentrate the thoughts with violence to find G.o.d. This is true in some sense, but, as the soul cannot long endure this tension, and as the kingdom of G.o.d is not found in the external vestments of the soul, but in its depths, this labor is of little avail. So little progress is made, the soul becomes discouraged, and the evil one, who fears nothing so much as the reign of G.o.d in the soul, makes an effort to draw the soul to externalities.

In order to accomplish this object, he takes two methods, either by excessive labors, persuading the soul that this is the way to find G.o.d, and thus choking the internal process of the interior life, or, by this tension of the mind, of which I have spoken. Neither of these methods open in the soul, the interior way.

You reply, how, then, is this life accomplished? I answer, G.o.d, seeing the heart of him who seeks him within, draws near to him, and teaches him a just moderation in all things; and, by this retrenchment of all excess in externals, the soul begins to perceive the peaceful kingdom.

It realizes within itself a guide, who provides for its necessities, according to divine laws, who takes away the burdens that sin imposes; a guide who does not foster corrupt nature, nor forbid innocent pleasures.

When the soul begins to perceive this kingdom, and that the King himself is manifested in some degree, it thus communes, (and we may call this the second step), O, my Beloved, I have sought thee with all the strength of my heart, in the place where thou hast taught me to seek thee, and I have there found thee! Days and nights have I pa.s.sed in seeking thee. All the desires of my heart go after thee. But now I have found thee. I pray thee to reign as Sovereign, to establish thine empire in my soul. I will do thy will alone. I will resign to thee all the right I have to myself; all that thou, by thy goodness, hast given to me.

At this stage of progress, the soul ceases from self. Its work is to regard, lovingly, the operation of G.o.d, without a desire either to advance it, or place any obstacle in the way of its progress. The soul has been active, in the first stage, to destroy, with all its power, that which might hinder the kingdom of G.o.d within; and this was a great effort; for habit had rendered interior recollection very difficult, and the powers of the soul did not easily reunite themselves in one centre.

Now the soul seeks no longer to combat the obstacles, which hindered its return within, but lets G.o.d combat and act in the soul. Saying, it is time O, Lord, that thou shouldst take possession of thy kingdom! Do so, I pray thee, exclusively. I desire, on my part, only to observe thine operation.