A Little Book of Eternal Wisdom [16]
The Servant.--Lord, it is painful for love to separate from love.
Eternal Wisdom.--Very true, if I could not and would not lovingly make
good all love in hearts of love.
The Servant.--O Lord, it is impossible to leave off old custom.
Eternal Wisdom.--But it will be yet more impossible to endure future
torments.
The Servant.--They are perhaps so well regulated in themselves that it
does them no injury.
Eternal Wisdom.--I was the best regulated of men, and yet the most
self-mortified. How may that be regulated which, from its very nature,
corrupts the heart, confuses the mind, perverts discipline, draws off the
heart from all fervour, and robs it of its peace? It breaks open the gates,
behind which godly living lies hidden, that is, the five senses. It casts
forth sobriety and introduces audaciousness, the loss of grace, estrangement
from God, interior tepidity, and exterior sloth.
The Servant.--Lord, they do not think they are hindered so much, if
only what they love have the appearance of a spiritual life.
Eternal Wisdom.--A clear-seeing eye may just as easily be blinded by
while meal as by pale ashes. Behold, was ever any person's presence so
harmless as Mine among My disciples? No unprofitable words fell from us,
among us there was no extravagant demeanour, no beginning loftily in the
spirit, and sinking down in the depth of endless words; there was nothing
but real earnestness and entire truth without any deceit. And yet, My bodily
presence had to be withdrawn from them before they became susceptible of My
spirit. What a hindrance, then, must not a merely human presence prove!
Before they are influenced to good by one person, they are seduced by a
thousand; before they are reformed in one point by good precept, they are
often led astray by bad example; and, to speak briefly, as the sharp frost
in May nips the blossoms and scatters them abroad, so the love of perishable
things blights godly seriousness and religious discipline. If thou hast
still a doubt respecting it, look around thee into the beautiful, fruitful
vineyards which formerly were so delightful in their first bloom, how
utterly withered and ruined they are, so that they contain few traces more
of fervent seriousness and great devotion. Now, this produces an irreparable
injury, for it has become a thing of habit, a spiritual decorum, which,
secretly, is so destructive of all spiritual salvation. It is all the more
pernicious as it appears innocent. How many a precious spice-garden is
there, which, adorned with delightful gifts, was a heavenly paradise, where
God was well pleased to dwell, which, now, by reason of perishable love, has
become a garden of wild weeds; where lilies and roses formerly grew, now
stands thorns, nettles, and briars, and where angels were used to dwell,
swine now root up the soil. Woe betide the hour, when all lost time, when
all good works neglected, shall be reckoned up, when every idle word spoken,
thought, written, whether in secret or in public, shall be read out before
God and the whole world, and its meaning, without disguise, be understood!
The Servant.--Alas! my Lord, some hearts there are, of so tender a
nature, that they are much sooner attracted by love than fear, and as Thou,
the Lord of nature, art not a destroyer but a fulfiller of nature, O,
therefore, most kind and gracious Lord, put an end to this sad discourse,
and tell me how Thou art a Mother of beautiful love, and how sweet Thy love
is.
CHAPTER VII. How Lovely God Is
The Servant.--Lord, let me reflect on that divine passage, where Thou
speakest of Thyself in the Book of Wisdom: "Come over to Me, all ye that
desire Me, and be filled with My fruits. I am the Mother of fair love; My
Spirit is sweet above honey and the honeycomb. Wine and music rejoice the
heart, but the love of wisdom is above them both.[3]
Ah, Lord! Thou canst show Thyself so lovely and so tender, that all
hearts must needs languish for Thee and endure, for