9. To Him therefore let us hasten in Whom is the chief Good: for He is the bounty and patience of Israel, Who calls thee to repentance, that thou come not into condemnation but mayest receive the remission of thy sins. He saith, S. Matt. iv. 17. Repent. This is He of Whom the Prophet Amos cries, Amos v. 14. Seek good. He is the chief Good, Who is in need of nothing, but abounds in all things. And well may He abound, Col. ii. 9. in Whom dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily; of S. John i. 16. Whose fulness we have all received, and in Whom we are filled, as saith the Evangelist.
10. If then the mind with its capacities of desire and pleasure hath tasted the chief Good, and by means of these two affections hath drank It in, unalloyed by sorrow and fear, it is wonderfully inflamed. For having embraced the Word of God, she knows no measure and yet feels no satiety, as it is written, Ps. cxix. 68. Thou art good and gracious, O teach me Thy statutes: having embraced the Word of God, she desires Him above all beauty, she loves Him above all joy, she is delighted with Him above all perfumes, she desires often to see, often to look upon Him, often to be drawn to Him that she may follow. Cant. i. 3. Thy Name, it is said, is as ointment poured forth; therefore we maidens love Thee, therefore we strive but cannot attain to Thee. Draw us that we may run after Thee, that by the fragrance of Thy ointments we may gain power to follow Thee.
11. And the mind presses forward to the sight of internal mysteries, to the place of rest of the Word, to the very dwelling of that chief Good, His light and brightness. In that haven and home-retreat she hastens to hear His words, and having heard, finds them sweeter than all other things. Learn of the Prophet who had tasted and saith, Ps. cxix. 103. O howsweet are Thy words unto my throat, yea sweeter than honey unto my mouth. For what can that soul desire which hath once tasted the sweetness of the Word, and seen His brightness? Exod. xxxiv. 28. When Moses received the Law he remained forty days on the mount and required no bodily food; 1 Kings xix. 4. Elijah, hastening to this rest, prayed that his life might be taken away; Peter, himself also beholding on the Mount the glory of the Lord’s Resurrection, would fain not have come down, saying, S. Matt. xvii. 4. It is good for us to be here. How great then is the glory of the Divine Essence and the graces of the Word, 1 Pet. i. 12. which things the Angels desire to look into.
12. The soul then which beholds this chief Good, requires not the body, and understands that it ought to have as little connexion with it as possible; it renounces the world, withdraws itself from the chains of the flesh, and extricates itself from all the bonds of earthly pleasures. Acts vii. 55. Thus Stephen beheld Jesus, and feared not being stoned, nay, while he was being stoned, prayed not for himself but for his murderers. Paul also, when 2 Cor. xii. 2. caught up to the third heaven, knew not whether he was in the body or out of the body: caught up, I say, into Paradise, he became invisible to the presence of his own body, and having heard the words of God he blushed to descend again to the infirmities of the body.
13. Thus, knowing what he had seen and heard in Paradise, he cried saying, Col. ii. 20–22. Why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances? Touch not, taste not, handle not, which all are to perish with the using. For he would have us of this world in figure and semblance, not in use or possession, using as though we used it not, as our place of sojourn, not of rest, walking through it as in a vision, not with desire, so as to pass as lightly as possible over the mere shadow of this world. In this way S. Paul, who walked by faith not by sight, was 2 Cor. v. 8. absent from the body and present with the Lord, and although upon earth conversed not with earthly but with heavenly things.
14. Wherefore let our soul, wishing to draw near to God, raise herself from the body, and ever adhere to that chief End which is divine, Which is everlasting, S. John i. 1. Which was from the beginning, and Which was with God, that is, the Wordof God. This is that Divine Being, Acts xvii. 28. in Whom we live and move and have our being. This is That which was in the beginning, the true I AM. 2 Cor. i. 19. For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, was not yea nor nay but in Him was yea. He bid Moses say, Exod. iii. 14. I AM hath sent me.
15. With this Good therefore let our soul be, and if possible, be continually, that each of us may say, Ps. cxix. 109. My soul is continually in my hand. And such will be the case, if it be not in the flesh, but in the spirit, and does not entangle itself in earthly things. For when it turns back to carnal things, then the allurements of the body creep over it, then it swells with rage and anger, then it is pierced with sorrow, then it is lifted up with arrogance, then it is bowed down with grief.
16. These are the heavy griefs of the soul by which it is often brought down to death, while its eyes are blinded so that they see not the light of true glory, and the riches of its eternal heritage. But by keeping them always fixed on God, it will receive from Christ the brightness of wisdom, so as to have its vision enlightened by the knowledge of God, and to behold that hope of our calling, and see that which is good and well-pleasing and perfect. For that which is good is well-pleasing to the Father, and that which is well-pleasing is perfect, as it is written in the Gospel, S. Matt. v. 44, 45. Love your enemies, that ye may be the children of your Father Which is in heaven, for, He sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust, which is surely a proof of goodness. Afterwards He concludes by saying, Ib. 48. Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father Which is in heaven is perfect. For charity is perfect; in short it is Rom. xiii. 10. the fulfilling of the Law; for what can be so good as charity which thinketh no evil?
17. Fly then those regions where dwell envy, ambition, and contention. Therefore let thy mind open itself to receive this Good, that it may mount above the clouds, that it may be Isa. xl. 31. renewed as the eagle, and like the eagle spread abroad its wings, that with new vigour in its pinions it may fearlessly soar aloft and leave its earthly dwelling-place behind it, Wisd. ix. 15. for the earthly habitation weigheth down the mind. Let it put off old things, let it cast off wandering desires, let it purge its eyes that it may see that Fountain of true wisdom,that Source of eternal life Which flows and abounds with all things and is in want of nothing. For who hath given to Him, seeing that Rom. xi. 36. of Him and through Him and to Him are all things?
18. The Fountain of life then is that chief Good from Which the means of life are dispensed to all, but It hath life abiding in Itself. It receiveth from none as though It were in need, It confers good on others rather than borrows from others for Itself, for It hath no need of us. Thus in the person of man it is said, Ps. xvi. 2. my goods are nothing unto Thee. What then can be more lovely than to approach to Him, to cleave to Him; what pleasure can be greater? He who has seen and tasted freely of the Fountain of living water, what else can he desire? what kingdoms? what powers? what riches? perceiving how miserable even in this world is the condition of kings, how mutable the state of empires, how short the space of this life, in what bondage sovereigns themselves must live, seeing that their life is according to the will of others, not their own.