A Little Book of Eternal Wisdom [17]
Thy sake, all the misery
of tender desire; Thy words of love flow so sweetly out of Thy sweet mouth,
and so powerfully affect many hearts in their days of youthful bloom, that
perishable love is wholly extinguished in them. O my dear Lord, this it is
for which my soul sighs, this it is which makes my spirit sad, this it is
about which I would gladly hear Thee speak. Now, then, my only elected
Comforter, speak one little word to my soul, to Thy poor handmaid; for, lo!
I am fallen softly asleep beneath Thy shadow, and my heart watcheth.
Eternal Wisdom.--Listen, then, my son, and see, incline to Me thy ears,
enter wholly into thy interior, and forget thyself and all things. I am in
Myself the incomprehensible good, which always was and always is, which
never was and never will be uttered. I may indeed give Myself to men's
hearts to be felt by them, but no tongue can truly express Me in words. And
yet, when I, the Supernatural, immutable good, present Myself to every
creature according to its capacity to be susceptible of Me, I bind the sun's
splendour, as it were, in a cloth, and give thee spiritual perceptions of Me
and of My sweet love in bodily words thus: I set Myself tenderly before the
eyes of thy heart; now adorn and clothe thou Me in spiritual perceptions and
represent Me as delicate and as comely as thy very heart could wish, and
bestow on Me all those things that can move the heart to especial love and
entire delight of soul. Lo! all and everything that thou and all men can
possibly imagine of form, of elegance, and grace, is in Me far more
ravishing than any one can express, and in words like these do I choose to
make Myself known. Now, listen further: I am of high birth, of noble race; I
am the Eternal Word of the Fatherly Heart, in which, according to the
love-abounding abyss of My natural Sonship in His sole paternity, I possess
a gratefulness before His tender eyes in the sweet and bright-flaming love
of the Holy Ghost. I am the throne of delight, I am the crown of salvation,
My eyes are so clear, My mouth so tender, My cheeks so radiant and blooming,
and all My figure so fair and ravishing, yea, and so delicately formed, that
if a man were to lie in the glowing furnace till the day of judgment, only
to have one single glance at My beauty, he would not deserve it. See, I am
so deliciously adorned in garments of light, I am so exquisitely set off
with all the blooming colours of living flowers, that all May-blossoms, all
the beautiful shrubs of all dewy fields, all the tender buds of the sunny
meads, are but as rough thistles compared to My adornment.
In the Godhead I play the game of bliss,
Such joy the angels find in this,
That unto them a thousand years
But as one little hour appears.
All the heavenly host follow Me entranced by new wonders, and behold
Me; their eyes are fixed on Mine; their hearts are inclined to Me, their
minds bent on Me without intermission. Happy is he who, in joyous security,
shall take Me by My beautiful hand, and join in My sweet diversions, and
dance for ever the dance of joy amid the ravishing delights of the kingdom
of heaven! One little word there spoken by My sweet mouth will far surpass
the singing of all angels, the music of all harps, the harmony of all sweet
strings. My faithfulness is so made to be loved, so lovely am I to be
embraced, and so tender for pure languishing souls to kiss, that all hearts
ought to break for My possession. I am condescending and full of sympathy
and always present to the pure soul. I abide with her in secret, at table,
in bed, in the streets, in the fields. Turn Myself whichever way I will, in
Me there is nothing that can displease, in Me is everything that can delight
the utmost wishes of thy heart and desires of the soul. Lo! I am a good so
pure, that he who in his day only gets one drop of Me regards all the
pleasures and delights of this world as nothing but bitterness; all its
possessions and honours as worthless, and only fit to be cast away; My
beloved
of tender desire; Thy words of love flow so sweetly out of Thy sweet mouth,
and so powerfully affect many hearts in their days of youthful bloom, that
perishable love is wholly extinguished in them. O my dear Lord, this it is
for which my soul sighs, this it is which makes my spirit sad, this it is
about which I would gladly hear Thee speak. Now, then, my only elected
Comforter, speak one little word to my soul, to Thy poor handmaid; for, lo!
I am fallen softly asleep beneath Thy shadow, and my heart watcheth.
Eternal Wisdom.--Listen, then, my son, and see, incline to Me thy ears,
enter wholly into thy interior, and forget thyself and all things. I am in
Myself the incomprehensible good, which always was and always is, which
never was and never will be uttered. I may indeed give Myself to men's
hearts to be felt by them, but no tongue can truly express Me in words. And
yet, when I, the Supernatural, immutable good, present Myself to every
creature according to its capacity to be susceptible of Me, I bind the sun's
splendour, as it were, in a cloth, and give thee spiritual perceptions of Me
and of My sweet love in bodily words thus: I set Myself tenderly before the
eyes of thy heart; now adorn and clothe thou Me in spiritual perceptions and
represent Me as delicate and as comely as thy very heart could wish, and
bestow on Me all those things that can move the heart to especial love and
entire delight of soul. Lo! all and everything that thou and all men can
possibly imagine of form, of elegance, and grace, is in Me far more
ravishing than any one can express, and in words like these do I choose to
make Myself known. Now, listen further: I am of high birth, of noble race; I
am the Eternal Word of the Fatherly Heart, in which, according to the
love-abounding abyss of My natural Sonship in His sole paternity, I possess
a gratefulness before His tender eyes in the sweet and bright-flaming love
of the Holy Ghost. I am the throne of delight, I am the crown of salvation,
My eyes are so clear, My mouth so tender, My cheeks so radiant and blooming,
and all My figure so fair and ravishing, yea, and so delicately formed, that
if a man were to lie in the glowing furnace till the day of judgment, only
to have one single glance at My beauty, he would not deserve it. See, I am
so deliciously adorned in garments of light, I am so exquisitely set off
with all the blooming colours of living flowers, that all May-blossoms, all
the beautiful shrubs of all dewy fields, all the tender buds of the sunny
meads, are but as rough thistles compared to My adornment.
In the Godhead I play the game of bliss,
Such joy the angels find in this,
That unto them a thousand years
But as one little hour appears.
All the heavenly host follow Me entranced by new wonders, and behold
Me; their eyes are fixed on Mine; their hearts are inclined to Me, their
minds bent on Me without intermission. Happy is he who, in joyous security,
shall take Me by My beautiful hand, and join in My sweet diversions, and
dance for ever the dance of joy amid the ravishing delights of the kingdom
of heaven! One little word there spoken by My sweet mouth will far surpass
the singing of all angels, the music of all harps, the harmony of all sweet
strings. My faithfulness is so made to be loved, so lovely am I to be
embraced, and so tender for pure languishing souls to kiss, that all hearts
ought to break for My possession. I am condescending and full of sympathy
and always present to the pure soul. I abide with her in secret, at table,
in bed, in the streets, in the fields. Turn Myself whichever way I will, in
Me there is nothing that can displease, in Me is everything that can delight
the utmost wishes of thy heart and desires of the soul. Lo! I am a good so
pure, that he who in his day only gets one drop of Me regards all the
pleasures and delights of this world as nothing but bitterness; all its
possessions and honours as worthless, and only fit to be cast away; My
beloved