AFTER THE PRECEDING WAYS, THERE REMAINS AN AFTER WAY, PREPARATORY TO
DIVINE UNION, IN WHICH WISDOM AND JUSTICE MAKE THE PASSIVE PURIFICATION
OF THE SOUL, ALL WHICH IS TREATED IN DETAIL IN THE FOLLOWING TREATISE,
ENTITLED "SPIRITUAL TORRENTS."
It is impossible to attain divine union by the way of meditation alone,
or even by the affections, or by any luminous or understood prayer.
There are several reasons. These are the principal.
First, according to Scripture, "No man shall see God and live" (Exod.
xxxiii. 20). Now all discursive exercises of prayer, or even of _active
contemplation_, regarded as an end, and not as a preparation for the
_passive_, are exercises of life by which we cannot see God, that is,
become united to Him. All that is of man, and of his own industry,
however noble and elevated it may be, must die.
St John tells us that "there was silence in heaven." Heaven represents
the depths and centre of the soul, where all must be in silence when the
majesty of God appears. All that belongs to our own efforts, or to
ourselves in any way, must be destroyed, because nothing is opposed to
God but appropriation, and all the malignity of man is in this
appropriation, which is the source of his evil; so that the more a soul
loses its appropriation, the more it becomes pure.
Secondly, in order to unite two things so opposed as the purity of God
and the impurity of the creature, the simplicity of God and the
multiplicity of the creature, God must operate alone; for this can never
be done by the effort of the creature, since two things cannot be united
unless there is some relation or resemblance between them, as an impure
metal would never unite with one that was pure and refined.
What does God do then? He sends before Him His own Wisdom, as fire will
be sent upon the earth to consume by its activity all the impurity that
is there. Fire consumes all things, and nothing resists its activity. It
is the same with Wisdom; it consumes all impurity in the creature, to
prepare him for divine union.
This impurity, so opposed to union, is appropriation and activity.
_Appropriation_, because it is the source of the real impurity which can
never be united to essential purity; as the sun's rays may touch the mud
but cannot unite with it. _Activity_, because God being in an infinite
repose, in order that the soul may be united to Him, it must participate
in His repose, without which there can be no union, because of the
dissemblance; and to unite two things, they must be in a proportionate
rest.
It is for this reason that the soul can only attain divine union by the
rest of its will; and it can only be united to God when it is in a
_central rest_ and in the purity of its creation.
To purify the soul God makes use of wisdom as fire is used for the
purification of gold. It is certain that gold can only be purified by
fire, which gradually consumes all that is earthly and foreign, and
separates it from the gold. It is not sufficient that the earth should
be changed into gold; it is necessary that the fire should melt and
dissolve it, to remove from it all that is earthly; and this gold is put
in the fire so many times that it loses its impurity, and all necessity
of purification. Then it is fit to be employed in the most excellent
workmanship.
And if this gold is impure in the end, it is because it has contracted
fresh defilement by coming in contact with other bodies. But this
impurity is only superficial, and does not prevent its being used;
whereas its former impurity was hidden within it, and, as it were,
identified with its nature.
In addition to this, you will remark that gold of an inferior degree of
purity cannot mix with that of a superior purity. The one must contract
the impurity of the other, or else impart its own purity to it. Put a
refined gold with an unrefined one, what can the goldsmith ever do with
it? He will have all the impurity taken from the second piece, that it
may be able to mix with the first. This is what St Paul tells us, that
"the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is;" he adds, that
if any man's work should be found to deserve burning, he should be saved
"so as by fire" (1 Cor. iii. 13, 15). That means, that though there are
some works which are good, and which God receives, yet, so that he who
has done them may be pure, they too must pass through the fire, in order
that all appropriation, that is, all that was his own, may be taken
from them. God will judge our righteousness, because "by the deeds of
the law there shall no flesh be justified," but by "the righteousness of
God, which is by faith" (Rom. iii. 20, 22).
This being understood, I say that, in order that man may be united to
his God, wisdom and divine justice, like a pitiless and devouring fire,
must take from him all appropriation, all that is terrestrial, carnal,
and of his own activity; and having taken all this from him, they must
unite him to God.
This is never brought about by the labours of the creature; on the
contrary, it even causes him regret, because, as I have said, man so
loves what is his own, and is so fearful of its destruction, that if God
did not accomplish it Himself, and by His own authority, man would never
consent to it.
It will be objected to this, that God never deprives man of his liberty,
and that therefore he can always resist God; for which reason I ought
not to say that _God acts absolutely, without the consent of man_. In
explanation I say, that it is sufficient that man should give a
_passive consent_, that he may have entire and full liberty; because
having at the beginning given himself to God, that He may do as He will
both with him and in him, he gave from that time an _active_ and general
assent to all that God might do. But when God destroys, burns, and
purifies, the soul does not see that all this is for its advantage; it
rather believes the contrary: and as at first the fire seems to tarnish
the gold, so this operation seems to despoil the soul of its purity. So
that if an _active_ and _explicit_ consent were required, the soul would
find a difficulty in giving it, and often would not give it. All that it
does is to remain in a passive contentment, enduring this operation as
well as it can, being neither able nor willing to prevent it.
God then so purifies this soul of all natural, distinct, and perceived
operations, that at last He makes it more and more _conformed_ to
Himself, and then _uniform_, raising the passive capacity of the
creature, enlarging it and ennobling it, though in a hidden and
unperceived manner, which is termed mystical. But in all these
operations the soul must concur passively, and in proportion as the
working of God becomes stronger, the soul must continually yield to Him,
until He absorbs it altogether. We do not say, then, as some assert,
that there must be no _action_; since, on the contrary, this is _the
door_; but only that _we must not remain in it_, seeing that man should
tend towards the perfection of his end, and that he can never reach it
without quitting the first means, which, though they were necessary to
introduce him into the way, would greatly hinder him afterwards, if he
attached himself obstinately to them. This is what Paul said, "I forget
those things which are behind, and reach forth unto those things which
are before; I press toward the mark" (Phil. iii. 13, 14).
Should we not consider a person destitute of reason who, after
undertaking a journey, stopped at the first inn, because he was assured
that several had passed it, that a few had lodged there, and that the
landlord lived there? What the soul is required to do, then, is _to
advance towards its end_, to take the shortest road, not to stop at the
first point, and, following the advice of St Paul, to suffer itself to
be "led by the Spirit of God" (Rom. viii. 14), who will lead it to the
end for which it was created, which is the enjoyment of God.
It is well known that the sovereign good is God; that essential
blessedness consists in union with God, and that this union cannot be
the result of our own efforts, since God only communicates Himself to
the soul according to its capacity. We cannot be united to God without
passivity and simplicity; and this union being bliss, the way which
leads to it must be the best, and there can be no risk in walking in it.
This way is not _dangerous_. If it were, Christ would not have
represented it as the most perfect and necessary of all ways. All can
walk in it; and as all are called to blessedness, all are called to the
enjoyment of God, both in this life and in that which is to come, since
the enjoyment of God is blessedness. I say the enjoyment of God Himself,
not of His gifts, which can never impart essential blessedness, not
being able fully to satisfy the soul, which is so constituted that even
the richest gifts of God cannot thoroughly content it. The desire of God
is to give Himself to us, according to the capacity with which He has
endowed us; and yet we fear to leave ourselves to God! We fear to
possess Him, and to be prepared for divine union!
You say, _we must not bring ourselves to this condition_. I agree to
that; but I say too, that no one ever could bring himself to it, since
no man could ever unite himself to God by his own efforts, and God
Himself must do the work.
You say that some pretend to have attained it. I say that this state
cannot be feigned, any more than a man dying of hunger can for any
length of time pretend to be satisfied. It will soon be known whether or
no men have attained this end.
Since, then, none can arrive at the end unless he be brought there, it
is not a question of introducing people to it, but of showing them the
way which leads to it, and begging them not to rest in those practices
which must be relinquished at God's command.
Would it not be cruelty to show a fountain to a thirsty man, and then
hold him bound, and prevent his going to it, leaving him to die of
thirst? That is what is being done now. Let us all be agreed both as to
the way and the end. The way has its commencement, its progress, and
its terminus. The more we advance towards the terminus, the farther we
go from the commencement; and it is impossible to reach the terminus but
by constantly going farther from the starting-point, being unable to go
from one place to another without passing through all that comes between
them: this is incontestable.
Oh, how blind are the majority of men, who pride themselves upon their
learning and talent!
O Lord! how true it is that Thou hast hidden Thy secrets from the wise
and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes!