Letters of Madam Guyon

by Jeanne Marie Bouvier de la Motte Guyon

It does not depend on ourselves to make the presence of God more or less sensible. Let the desire for a lively sense of this presence, be crucified to the will of God. Take what is given you. Be as the little child, who eats and sleeps and grows. God gives you the best nourishment, although not always the sweetest to the taste. Adieu! my heart sympathises with you.

ADVANCEMENT.

During the process of the soul's purification and advancement, it loses sight not only of itself, but of all things else; except God; and even of the distinct apprehension of our Lord, in his humanity. That is, there are no longer distinct, bounded views and perceptions of Christ, the soul becoming identical with Christ. This is necessary in order to draw the soul into oneness with God. Let all go in the divine order. When the soul has returned to its end and origin, and is lost in God, it finds all it lost, without going out from God.

When the soul is yet in itself, it draws all things to itself, and sees God and all creatures in itself. But when the soul is in oneness with God, it carries all creatures with it in God, and sees nothing separate from God. Seeing all in God, it sees all things in the true light, as with the eye of God. This is what David calls, "Seeing light in thy light."

May God give you understanding of what I say, and docility and acquiescence in the truths, which he causes to penetrate your soul. I make no reserves, but express freely all my thoughts. The least reserve for self, is as a strong breath against a mirror, it obstructs the view of God. My soul, it seems to me, is clear and transparent, reflecting only what the Master presents; and the execution of his will renders the soul always increasingly pure and transparent. May God be all in all to you.

GREATNESS OF SPIRITUAL POVERTY.

Do not measure yourself by others, who may not be led as you are. God chooses to enrich some souls with brilliant gifts, but he has chosen you, stripped of all, in the depths of spiritual poverty. This is the perfect self-renouncement, without which, one cannot be the disciple of the Lord Jesus. All other states, however elevated they may be, are inferior to this pure, naked state of the soul. It is a state, which despoils the lover of all he possesses in favor of his Beloved. It is a state in which the soul is shielded from all inroads of the enemy; who can reach only what remains of self in the creature, and not what is enclosed in God.

God has chosen you for himself alone. You are the sanctuary, which is open only to the high priest, in which is contained the ark of the covenant—the essential, will of God—the sacred place, encompassed by the clouds, where the glory of God appears. Oh! blessed poverty of spirit, in which state the soul is enriched with the best gifts a God can bestow!