..........in order that the soul may come to union with God in hope, it must renounce every possession of the memory; for, in order that its hope in God may be perfect, it must have naught in the memory that is not God. And, as we have likewise said, no form or figure or image or other kind of knowledge that may come to the memory can be God, neither can be like Him, whether as David teaches, when he says: 'Lord, among the gods there is none like unto Thee;........." St. John of the Cross. Ascent of Mount Carmel. P. 377.
God held
the earth as if it were His lover
and spoke with the most tender of feelings
to all in existence as He spoke
to me, (…)
I now see my Beloved
everywhere.
P.302.
At last the time came for the bride
to be with Him.
Nothing all other brides had ever known
could have prepared me.
Only the beauty and light you cannot describe
has a place in His house.
I can touch God-yes-but not with anything I own,
not with anything I can identify with,
not with anything that
knows
me.
Purity, have you ever contemplated that word?
I once beheld the root of the Immaculate
and it drew me into itself,
I looked at all through
His eyes.
(…)P.303.
My soul is a candle that burned away the veil;
only the glorious duties of light I now have.
The suffering I knew initiated me into God.
I am a holy confessor for men.
When I see their tears running across their cheeks
and falling into
His hands,
what can I say to their great sorrow
that I too have
known.
The soul is a candle that will burn away the darkness,
only the glorious duties of love we will have.
(…) P.305.
I did not
have to ask my heart what it wanted,
because of all the desires I have ever known just one did I cling to
for it was the essence of
all desire:
to hold beauty in
my soul’s
arms.
P.314.
I look
at your body, dear;
I am talking about a woman’s,
and I question my vows deeply. For all around me
are making
love.
Beauty is exciting the tree’s limbs; look how sweet
they act and sway, they pretend to by shy, then laugh and yield,
as I want to with
you.
Most yield to love when its power awakes.
My hands could kneel upon you. An altar I see your breasts.
And is not every part of me sacred too, worthy of His mouth,
worthy of the earth’s homage, worthy of giving
communion.
An altar is every pore and hair on every body-
confess that, dear God,
confess;
why make us suffer your silence any longer
about such a vital
truth?
Still, I shall maintain for reasons beyond all morals,
my blessed vow of
chastity.
P.316.
You might quiet the whole world for a second
if you pray.
And if you love, if you
really love,
our guns will
wilt.
P.317.
How could I love my fellow men who tortured me?
One night I was dragged into a room
and beaten near death with their shoes
striking me hundreds of times
in the face, scarring me
forever.
I cried out for God for help, until I fainted.
That night in a dream, in a dream more real than this world.
a strap from the Christ’s sandal
fell from my bleeding
mouth,
and I looked at Him and He
was weeping, and spoke,
“I cobbled their boots;
how sorry
I am.
What moves all things
is God.”
P.318.
The weight of arrogance is such
that no bird can fly
carrying it.
And the man who feels superior
to others, that man
cannot dance,
the real dance when the soul takes God
into its arms (…)
P.320.
“What is grace?” I asked God.
And he said,
“All that happens.”
Then Ha added, when I looked perplexed,
“Could not lovers
say that every moment in their Beloved’s arms
was grace?
Existence is my arms,
though I well understand how one can turn
away from
me
until the heart has
wisdom.”
P.321.
Once I said to God, “How do you teach us?”
And He replied,
“If
you were
playing chess with someone who
had infinite power and infinite knowledge
and wanted to make you a
master of the
game,
where would all the chess
pieces be at every
moment?
Indeed, not only where he wanted them, but where all were best for your
development;
and that is every situation
of one’s
life.”
P.322.
They can be like a sun, words.
They can do for the heart
what light can
for a field.
P.324.
Tenderly, I now touch all
things,
knowing one day we will
part.
P.325.
(…)
Finding our soul’s beauty does that-gives us
tremendous freedom
from worry.
(…). P.326.
Your body is a divine stream,
as is your spirit.
When your two great rivers merge, one voice is found
and the earth applauds
in excitement.
(…). P.328.
Quiet yourself.
Reach out with your mind’s skillful hand.
Let it go inside of me
and touch
God.
Don’t
be shy, dear.
Every aspect of Light we are meant
to know.
The calm hand holds more
than baskets of goods
from the market.
(…). P.329.
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Last updated: 2008/10/27