A Little Book of Eternal Wisdom [22]
thou oughtest to look at evil days, and
in evil days not to forget good days; thus can neither elation injure thee
in My company nor despondency in dereliction. If, in thy faintheartedness,
thou canst not endure My absence with pleasure, wait for Me at least with
patience, and seek Me diligently.
The Servant.--O Lord, long waiting is painful.
Eternal Wisdom.--He who will needs have love in time, must know how to
bear weal and woe. It is not enough to devote to Me only a portion of the
day. He who would enjoy God's intimacy, who would hear His mysterious words,
and mark their secret meaning, ought always to keep within doors. Alas! how
is it that thou always permittest thy eyes to wander so thoughtlessly
around, when thou hast standing before thee the Blessed and Eternal Image of
the Godhead which never for a moment turns away from thee? Why dost thou let
thy ears escape from thee when I address thee so many a sweet word? How is
it that thou so readily forgettest thyself when thou art so perfectly
encompassed with the eternal good? What is it thy soul seeks in exterior
things who carries within herself so secretly the kingdom of heaven?
The Servant.--What is the kingdom of heaven, O Lord, which is in the
soul?
Eternal Wisdom.--It is righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy
Ghost.
The Servant.--Lord, I understand from this discourse, that Thou hast
much hidden intercourse with the soul, which is wholly hidden from her, and
that Thou dost secretly attract the soul, and dost leisurely initiate her
into the love and knowledge of Thy high divinity, her who at first was only
concerned with Thy fair humanity.
CHAPTER X. The Third Thing.--Why God Permits His Friends To Suffer So Much
Temporal Suffering
The Servant.--Another thing, Lord, I have at my heart: may I venture to
tell it Thee? May I indeed venture to dispute with Thee like holy Jeremias?
Gentle Lord, people say as follows: that how sweet soever Thy love may be,
Thou dost yet allow it to prove very harsh to Thy friends in the many severe
trials which Thou sendest them, such as worldly scorn and much adversity,
both inwardly and outwardly. Scarcely is any one, say they, admitted to Thy
friendship, but he has forthwith to gather up his courage for suffering.
Lord, by Thy goodness! what sweetness can they have in all this? Or how
canst Thou permit it in Thy friends? Or art Thou pleased not to know
anything about it?
Eternal Wisdom.--Even as My Father loves Me, so do I love My friends. I
do to My friends now as I have done from the beginning of the world.
The Servant.--This is what they complain of; and therefore, say they,
Thou hast so few friends because Thou allowest them to prosper in this world
so very sorrily. Lord, on this account there are also indeed many who, when
they gain Thy friendship, and ought to prove constant in suffering, fall off
from Thee; and (woe is me! that I must say it in sorrow of heart, and with
bitter tears) relapse to that state which, through Thee, they had forsaken.
O my Lord, what hast Thou to say to this?
Eternal Wisdom.--This is the complaint of persons of a sick faith and
of small works, of a lukewarm life, and undisciplined spirit. But thou,
beloved soul, up with thy mind out of the slime and deep slough of carnal
delights! Unlock thy interior sense, open thy spiritual eyes and see. Mark
well what thou art, where thou art, and whither thou dost belong; for then
shalt thou understand that I do the very best for My friends. According to
thy natural essence thou art a mirror of the Divinity, thou art an image of
the Trinity, and a copy of eternity; for as I, in My eternal uncreated
entity, am the good which is infinite, so art thou according to thy desires,
fathomless, and as little as a small drop can yield in the vast depth of the
sea, just so little can all that this world is able to afford contribute to
the fulfillment of thy desires. Thus, then, art thou in this wretched valley
of tears, where
in evil days not to forget good days; thus can neither elation injure thee
in My company nor despondency in dereliction. If, in thy faintheartedness,
thou canst not endure My absence with pleasure, wait for Me at least with
patience, and seek Me diligently.
The Servant.--O Lord, long waiting is painful.
Eternal Wisdom.--He who will needs have love in time, must know how to
bear weal and woe. It is not enough to devote to Me only a portion of the
day. He who would enjoy God's intimacy, who would hear His mysterious words,
and mark their secret meaning, ought always to keep within doors. Alas! how
is it that thou always permittest thy eyes to wander so thoughtlessly
around, when thou hast standing before thee the Blessed and Eternal Image of
the Godhead which never for a moment turns away from thee? Why dost thou let
thy ears escape from thee when I address thee so many a sweet word? How is
it that thou so readily forgettest thyself when thou art so perfectly
encompassed with the eternal good? What is it thy soul seeks in exterior
things who carries within herself so secretly the kingdom of heaven?
The Servant.--What is the kingdom of heaven, O Lord, which is in the
soul?
Eternal Wisdom.--It is righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy
Ghost.
The Servant.--Lord, I understand from this discourse, that Thou hast
much hidden intercourse with the soul, which is wholly hidden from her, and
that Thou dost secretly attract the soul, and dost leisurely initiate her
into the love and knowledge of Thy high divinity, her who at first was only
concerned with Thy fair humanity.
CHAPTER X. The Third Thing.--Why God Permits His Friends To Suffer So Much
Temporal Suffering
The Servant.--Another thing, Lord, I have at my heart: may I venture to
tell it Thee? May I indeed venture to dispute with Thee like holy Jeremias?
Gentle Lord, people say as follows: that how sweet soever Thy love may be,
Thou dost yet allow it to prove very harsh to Thy friends in the many severe
trials which Thou sendest them, such as worldly scorn and much adversity,
both inwardly and outwardly. Scarcely is any one, say they, admitted to Thy
friendship, but he has forthwith to gather up his courage for suffering.
Lord, by Thy goodness! what sweetness can they have in all this? Or how
canst Thou permit it in Thy friends? Or art Thou pleased not to know
anything about it?
Eternal Wisdom.--Even as My Father loves Me, so do I love My friends. I
do to My friends now as I have done from the beginning of the world.
The Servant.--This is what they complain of; and therefore, say they,
Thou hast so few friends because Thou allowest them to prosper in this world
so very sorrily. Lord, on this account there are also indeed many who, when
they gain Thy friendship, and ought to prove constant in suffering, fall off
from Thee; and (woe is me! that I must say it in sorrow of heart, and with
bitter tears) relapse to that state which, through Thee, they had forsaken.
O my Lord, what hast Thou to say to this?
Eternal Wisdom.--This is the complaint of persons of a sick faith and
of small works, of a lukewarm life, and undisciplined spirit. But thou,
beloved soul, up with thy mind out of the slime and deep slough of carnal
delights! Unlock thy interior sense, open thy spiritual eyes and see. Mark
well what thou art, where thou art, and whither thou dost belong; for then
shalt thou understand that I do the very best for My friends. According to
thy natural essence thou art a mirror of the Divinity, thou art an image of
the Trinity, and a copy of eternity; for as I, in My eternal uncreated
entity, am the good which is infinite, so art thou according to thy desires,
fathomless, and as little as a small drop can yield in the vast depth of the
sea, just so little can all that this world is able to afford contribute to
the fulfillment of thy desires. Thus, then, art thou in this wretched valley
of tears, where