Prayer ought to be both pet.i.tion and sacrifice.
Prayer, according to the testimony of St John, is an incense, whose perfume rises to G.o.d. Therefore it is said in the Revelation (chap.
viii. 3), that an angel held a censer, which contained the incense of the prayers of saints.
Prayer is an outpouring of the heart in the presence of G.o.d. "I have poured out my soul before the Lord," said the mother of Samuel (1 Sam.
i. 15). Thus the prayers of the Magi at the feet of the infant Jesus in the stable of Bethlehem were signified by the incense which they offered.
Prayer is the heat of love, which melts and dissolves the soul, and carries it to G.o.d. In proportion as it melts, it gives out its odour, and this odour comes from the love which burns it.
This is what the Bride meant when she said, "While the King sitteth at His table, my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof" (Cant. i. 12).
The table is the heart. When G.o.d is there, and we are kept near to Him, in His presence, this presence of G.o.d melts and dissolves the hardness of our hearts, and as they melt, they give forth their perfume.
Therefore the Bridegroom, seeing His Bride thus melted by the speech of her Beloved, says, "Who is this that cometh out of the wilderness, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense?" (Cant. iii. 6).
Thus the soul rises up towards its G.o.d. But in order to this, it must suffer itself to be destroyed and annihilated by the force of love. This is a state of _sacrifice_ essential to the Christian religion, by which the soul suffers itself to be destroyed and annihilated to render homage to the sovereignty of G.o.d; as it is written, "The power of the Lord is great, and He is honoured of the lowly" (Ecclus. iii. 20). And the destruction of our own being confesses the sovereign being of G.o.d.
We must cease to be, so that the Spirit of the Word may be in us. In order that He may come to us, we must yield our life to Him, and die to self that He may live in us, and that we being dead, our life may be hidden with Christ in G.o.d (Col. iii. 3).
"Come unto me," says G.o.d, "all ye that be desirous of me, and fill yourselves with my fruits" (Ecclus. xxiv. 19). But how can we be filled with G.o.d? Only by being emptied of self, and going out of ourselves in order to be lost in Him.
Now, this can never be brought about except by our becoming nothing.
Nothingness is true prayer, which renders to G.o.d "honour, and glory, and power, for ever and ever" (Rev. v. 13).
This prayer is the prayer of truth. It is worshipping the Father in spirit and in truth. In _spirit_, because we are by it drawn out of our human and carnal action, to enter into the purity of the Spirit, who prays in us; and in _truth_, because the soul is led into the truth of the ALL of G.o.d, and the NOTHING of the creature.
There are but these two truths, the ALL and the NOTHING. All the rest is untruth.
We can only honour the ALL of G.o.d by our NOTHINGNESS; and we have no sooner become nothing, than G.o.d, who will not suffer us to be empty, fills us with Himself. Oh, if all knew the blessings which come to the soul by this prayer, they would be satisfied with no others: it is the pearl of great price; it is the hidden treasure. He who finds it gladly sells all that he has to buy it (Matt. xiii. 44, 46). It is the well of living water, which springs up into everlasting life (John iv. 14). It is the practice of the pure maxims of the gospel.
Does not Christ Himself tell us that the kingdom of G.o.d is within us?
(Luke xvii. 21). This kingdom is set up in two ways. The first is, when G.o.d is so thoroughly master of us that nothing resists Him: then our heart is truly His kingdom. The other way is, that by possessing G.o.d, who is the sovereign Lord, we possess the kingdom of G.o.d, which is the height of felicity, and the end for which we were created. As it has been said, _to serve G.o.d is to reign_.
The end for which we were created is to enjoy G.o.d in this life, and men do not believe it!
CHAPTER XVI.
THIS STATE OF PRAYER NOT ONE OF IDLENESS, BUT OF n.o.bLE ACTION, WROUGHT BY THE SPIRIT OF G.o.d, AND IN DEPENDENCE UPON HIM--THE COMMUNICATION OF HIS LIFE AND UNION.
Some people, hearing of the prayer of silence, have wrongly imagined that the soul remains _inactive_, _lifeless_, and _without movement_.
But the truth is, that its action is more n.o.ble and more extensive than it ever was before it entered this degree, since it is moved by G.o.d Himself, and acted upon by His Spirit. St Paul desires that we should be _led by the Spirit of G.o.d_ (Rom. viii. 14). I do not say that there must be no action, but that we must act in dependence upon the divine movement. This is admirably set forth by Ezekiel. The prophet saw wheels which had the spirit of life, and wherever this spirit was to go, they went; they went on, or stood, or were lifted up, as they were moved, for the spirit of life was in them: but they never went back (see Ezek.
i. 19-21). It should be the same with the soul: it should suffer itself to be moved and guided by the living Spirit who is in it, following His direction, and no other. Now this Spirit will never lead it to go backwards, that is, to reflect upon the creature, or to lean upon itself, but always to go forward, pressing continually towards the mark.
This action of the soul is a restful action. When it acts of itself, it acts with effort; and is therefore more conscious of its action. But when it acts in dependence upon the Spirit of grace, its action is so free, so easy, so natural, that it does not seem to act at all. "He brought me forth also into a large place; He delivered me, because He delighted in me" (Ps. xviii. 19).
As soon as the soul has commenced its course towards its centre,[2] from that moment its action becomes vigorous--that is, its course towards the centre which attracts it, which infinitely surpa.s.ses the velocity of any other movement.
2. See chap. ix.
It is action then, but an action so _n.o.ble_, so _peaceful_, so _tranquil_, that it seems to the soul as though it were not acting at all; because it rests, as it were, naturally. When a wheel is only turning with a moderate speed, it can easily be distinguished; but when it goes quickly, no part of it can be distinctly seen. So the soul which remains at rest in G.o.d has an action infinitely n.o.ble and exalted, yet very peaceful. The greater its peace, the greater is its velocity, because it is abandoned to the Spirit, who moves it and makes it act.
This Spirit is G.o.d Himself, who draws us, and in drawing makes us run to Him, as the Bride well knew when she said, "Draw me, we will run" (Cant.
i. 4). Draw me, O my Divine Centre, by my inmost heart: my powers and my sensibilities will run at Thy attraction! This attraction alone is a balm which heals me, and a perfume which draws. "We will run," she says, "because of the savour of Thy good ointments." This attracting virtue is _very strong_ but the soul follows it _very gladly_; and as it is equally strong and sweet, it attracts by its strength and delights by its sweetness.
The Bride says, "Draw me, we will run." She speaks of herself, and to herself: "Draw _me_;" there is the unity of the object which is attracted: "_We_ will run;" there is the correspondence of all the powers and sensibilities which follow in the train of the centre of the heart.
It is not then a question of remaining in idleness, but of acting _in dependence upon the Spirit of G.o.d_, who animates us, since it is in Him that "we live, and move, and have our being" (Acts xvii. 23). This calm dependence upon the Spirit of G.o.d is absolutely necessary, and causes the soul in a short time to attain the simplicity and unity in which it was created. It was created one and simple, like G.o.d. In order, then, to answer the end of our creation, we must quit the multiplicity of our own actions, to enter into the simplicity and unity of G.o.d, in whose image we were created (Gen. i. 27). The Spirit of G.o.d is "one only," "yet manifold" (Wisdom of Solomon vii. 22), and its unity does not prevent its multiplicity. We enter into G.o.d"s unity when we are united to His Spirit, because then we have the same Spirit that He has; and we are multiplied outwardly, as regards His dispositions, without leaving the unity.
So that, as G.o.d acts infinitely, and we are of one spirit with Him, we act much more than we could do by our own action. We must suffer ourselves to be guided by Wisdom. This "Wisdom" is more moving than any motion (Wisdom of Solomon vii. 24). Let us, then, remain in dependence upon His action, and our action will be vigorous indeed.
"All things were made by (the Word); and without Him was not anything made that was made" (John i. 3). G.o.d, in creating us, created us in His image, after His likeness (Gen. i. 26). He gave to us the Spirit of the Word by the breath of life (Gen. ii. 7), which He breathed into us when we were created in the image of G.o.d, by the partic.i.p.ation of the life of the Word, who is the image of His Father. Now this life is one, simple, pure, intimate, and fruitful.
The devil having disfigured this beautiful image, it became necessary that this same Word, whose breath had been breathed into us at our creation, should come to restore it. It was necessary that it should be He, because He is the image of the Father; and a defaced image cannot be repaired by its own action, but by the action of him who seeks to restore it. Our _action_ then should be, to _put ourselves_ into a position to suffer the action of G.o.d, and to allow the Word to retrace His image in us. An image, if it could move, would by its movement prevent the sculptor"s perfecting it. Every movement of our own hinders the work of the Heavenly Sculptor, and produces false features.
We must then remain silent, and only move as He moves us. Jesus Christ has _life in Himself_ (John v. 26), and He must communicate life to all who live.
That this action is the most n.o.ble cannot be denied. Things are only of value as the principle in which they originate is n.o.ble, grand, and elevated. Actions committed by a divine principle are _divine actions_; whereas the actions of the creature, however good they may appear, are _human actions_ or at best they are virtuous actions, if they are done with the help of grace.
Jesus says that He has life in Himself; all other beings have but a borrowed life, but the Word has life in Himself; and as He is communicative, He desires to communicate this life to men. We must then give place to this life, that it may flow in us, which can only be done by evacuation, and the loss of the life of Adam and of our own action, as St Paul a.s.sures us: "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are pa.s.sed away; behold all things are become new" (2 Cor. v.
17). This can only be brought about by the death of ourselves and of our own action, that the action of G.o.d may be subst.i.tuted for it. We do not profess, then, to be without action, but only to act in dependence upon the Spirit of G.o.d, suffering His action to take the place of our own.
Jesus shows us this in the gospel. Martha did good things, but because she did them of her own spirit, Christ reproved her for them. The spirit of man is turbulent and boisterous; therefore it does little, though it appears to do much. "Martha, Martha," said Jesus, "thou art careful and troubled about many things; but one thing is needful; and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her" (Luke x.
41, 42).
What had she chosen, this Magdalene? Peace, tranquillity, and repose.
She apparently ceased to act, that she might be moved by the Spirit of G.o.d; she ceased to live, that Christ might live in her.
This is why it is so necessary to renounce ourselves and all our own works to follow Jesus; for we cannot follow Him unless we are animated with His Spirit. In order that the Spirit of Christ may dwell in us, our own spirit must give place to Him. "He that is joined to the Lord," says St Paul, "is one spirit" (1 Cor. vi. 17). "It is good for me to draw near to G.o.d: I have put my trust in the Lord G.o.d" (Ps. lxxiii. 28). What is this "drawing near"? It is the beginning of union.
Union has its beginning, its continuation, its completion, and its consummation. The commencement of union is an inclination towards G.o.d.
When the soul is converted in the manner I have described, it has an inclination to its centre, and a strong tendency to union: this tendency is the commencement. Then it adheres, which happens when it approaches nearer to G.o.d; then it is united to Him, and finally becomes one with Him--that is, it becomes one spirit with Him; and it is then that this spirit, which proceeded from G.o.d, returns to Him as its end.
It is, then, necessary that we should enter this way, which is the divine motion, and the Spirit of Jesus Christ. St Paul says, "If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His" (Rom. viii. 9). To be Christ"s, then, we must suffer ourselves to be filled with His Spirit, and emptied of our own: our hearts must be evacuated. St Paul, in the same place, proves to us the necessity of this divine motion: he says, "As many as are led by the Spirit of G.o.d, they are the sons of G.o.d"
(Rom. viii. 14).
The divinely-imparted Spirit is the Spirit of divine sonship; therefore, the same apostle continues, "Ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father" (Rom. viii. 15). This spirit is no other than the Spirit of Christ, by whom we partic.i.p.ate in His Sonship; and this "Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the sons of G.o.d."
As soon as the soul leaves itself to be moved by the Spirit of G.o.d, it experiences the witness of this divine sonship; and this witness serves the more to increase its joy, as it makes it know _that it is called to the liberty of the sons of G.o.d_, and that the spirit it has received is not a spirit of bondage, but of liberty.
The Spirit of the divine motion is so necessary for all things, that Paul founds this necessity upon our ignorance of the things that we ask for. "The Spirit," he says, "helpeth our infirmities; for we know not what we should pray for as we ought; but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us, with groanings which cannot be uttered." This is conclusive: if we do not know what to pray for, nor how to ask as we ought for what is necessary for us, and if it is needful that the Spirit who is in us, to whose motion we abandon ourselves, should ask it for us, ought we not to leave Him to do it? He does it "with groanings which cannot be uttered."
This Spirit is the Spirit of the Word, who is always heard, as He says Himself: "I know that Thou hearest me always" (John xi. 42). If we leave it to the Spirit within us to ask and to pray, we shall always be answered. Why so? O great apostle, mystic teacher, so deeply taught in the inner life! teach us why. "It is," he adds, "because He that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because He maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of G.o.d;" that is to say, this Spirit only asks that which it is G.o.d"s will to give. It is G.o.d"s will that we should be saved and that we should be perfect. He asks, then, for all that is necessary to our perfection. Why, after this, should we be burdened with superfluous cares, and be wearied in the greatness of our way, without ever saying, There is no hope in ourselves, and therefore resting in G.o.d? G.o.d Himself invites us to cast all our care upon Him, and He complains, in inconceivable goodness, that we employ our strength, our riches, and our treasure, in countless exterior things, although there is so little joy to be found in them all. "Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread, and your labour for that which satisfieth not? Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness"
(Isa. lv. 2).
Oh, if it were known what happiness there is in thus hearkening unto G.o.d, and how the soul is strengthened by it! All flesh must be silent before the Lord (see Zech. ii. 13). All self-effort must cease when He appears. In order still further to induce us to abandon ourselves to Him without reserve, G.o.d a.s.sures us that we need fear nothing from such abandonment, because He has a special individual care over each of us.
He says, "Can a woman forget her sucking-child, that she should not have compa.s.sion on the son of her womb? Yea, she may forget, yet will I not forget thee" (Isa. xlix. 15). Ah, words full of consolation! Who on hearing them can fear to abandon himself utterly to the guidance of G.o.d?