Of the way to attain Divine UnionIt is impossible to attain Divine
Union solely by the activity of meditation, or by the meltings of the
affections, or even by the highest degree of luminous and
distinctly-comprehended prayer. There are many reasons for this, the
chief of which are as follow:-First, According to Scripture "no man
shall see God and live" (Exod. xxxiii. 20). Now all the exercises of
discursive prayer, and even of active contemplation, while esteemed as
the summit and end of the passive, and not merely as a preparative to
it, are still living exercises by which we cannot see God; that is to
say, be united with Him; for all that is of man's own power or exertion
must first die, be it ever so noble, ever so exalted.S. John
relates "That there was a great silence in heaven" (Rev. viii. 1). Now
heaven represents the foundation and centre of the soul, wherein, ere
the Majesty of God appears, all must be hushed to silence. All the
efforts, nay, the very existence of self-sufficiency must be destroyed,
because nothing is opposite to God but self-sufficiency; and all the
malignity of man is in this failing, as in the power of its evil
nature, insomuch that the purity of a soul increases in proportion as
it loses this quality; till at length that which had been a fault,
while the soul lived in self-sufficiency and so acted, becomes no
longer such, from the purity and innocence it hath acquired by
departing from that which caused the dissimilitude between it and
God.Secondly, To unite two things so opposite, as the impurity of the
creature and the purity of God, the simplicity of God and the
multiplicity of man, much more is requisite than the impotent efforts
of the creature: no less than a singular and efficacious operation of
the Almighty can ever accomplish this, for things must be reduced to
some familiarity before they can blend and become one. Can the impurity
of dross be united with the purity of gold? What then does God do? He
sends His own Wisdom before Him, as the last fire shall be sent upon
earth to destroy by its activity all that is impure therein; and as
nothing can resist the power of that fire, in like manner this Wisdom
dissolves and destroys all the impurities of the creature and disposes
it for Divine Union.This impurity, so opposite to Union, consists in
self-sufficiency and activity.This is the source and fountain of all
that defilement and corruption which can never be allied to Essential
Purity; the rays of the sun may glance, indeed, upon filth and mire,
but can never be united with them. Activity obstructs Union; for God
being an Infinite Stillness, the soul, in order to be united to Him,
must participate in this stillness, else the contrariety between
stillness and activity would prevent assimilation.Therefore, the soul
can never arrive at Divine Union but by the repose or stillness of the
will, nor can it ever become One with God but by being re-established
in the purity of its first creation, that is, in this central
repose.God purifies the soul by His Wisdom, as refiners do metals in
the furnace. Gold cannot be purified but by fire, which gradually
separates from and consumes all that is earthy and heterogeneous: it
must be melted and dissolved, and all impure mixtures taken away by
casting it again and again into the furnace; thus it is refined from
all internal corruption, and even exalted to a state incapable of
farther purification.The goldsmith now no longer discovers any
adulterate mixture; its purity is perfect, its simplicity complete. The
fire no longer touches it; and were it to remain an age in the furnace
its purity would not be increased nor its substance diminished. Then is
it fit for the most exquisite workmanship: and if thereafter this gold
seems obscured or defiled, it is no more than an accidental defilement
contracted by its contiguity to some impure body; but this is only
superficial, and widely different from its former impurity, which was
hidden in the very centre and ground of its nature and, as it were,
identified with it. Those, however, who are ignorant of this process
and its blessed effects would be apt to despise and reject the vessel
of pure gold sullied by some external pollution, and prefer an impure
and gross metal that appeared superficially bright and
polished.Farther, the goldsmith never mingles together the pure and the
impure gold, lest the dross of the one should corrupt the other; before
they can be united they must first be equally refined; he therefore
plunges the impure metal into the furnace till all its dross is purged
away and it becomes fully prepared for incorporation and union with the
pure gold.This is what S. Paul means when he declares that "the fire
shall try every man's work of what sort it is" (1 Cor. iii. 13). He
adds, "If any man's work be burnt, he shall suffer loss; yet he himself
shall be saved, yet so as by fire" (15 verse). He here intimates that
there is a species of works so degraded by impure mixtures that though
the mercy of God accepts them, yet they must pass through the fire to
be purged from the contamination of Self; and it is in this sense that
God is said to "examine and judge our righteousness" (Ps. xiv. 3),
because that, "by the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh be
justified, but by the righteousness of God, which is by faith in Jesus
Christ" (Rom. iii. 20, etc.).Thus we see that the Divine Justice and
Wisdom, as an unremitting fire, must devour and destroy all that is
earthly, sensual, and carnal, and all self-activity, before the soul
can be fitted for and capable of Union with God. Now this purification
can never be accomplished by the industry of fallen man; on the
contrary, he submits to it always with reluctance: he is so enamoured
of self, and so averse to its destruction, that did not God act upon
him powerfully and with authority, he would for ever resist.It may,
perhaps, be objected here that as God never robs man of his free will
he can always resist the Divine Operations, and that I therefore err in
saying God acts thus absolutely and without the consent of man.Let me,
however, explain myself. By man's giving a passive consent, God,
without usurpation, may assume full power and entire guidance; for
having, in the beginning of his conversion, made an unreserved
surrender of himself to all that God wills of him or by him, he thereby
gave an active consent to whatsoever God thereafter might operate or
require. But when God begins to burn, destroy, and purify, then the
soul, not perceiving the salutary design of these operations, shrinks
from them: and as the gold seems rather to blacken than brighten when
first put into the furnace, so it conceives that its purity is lost and
that its temptations are sins; insomuch that if an active and explicit
consent were then requisite the soul could scarcely give it, nay, often
would withhold it. The utmost the soul can do is to remain firm in a
passive disposition, enduring as well as it is able all these Divine
Operations, which it neither can nor will obstruct.In this manner,
therefore, the soul is purified from all proper, distinct, perceptible,
and multiplied operations which constitute the great dissimilitude
between it and God: it is rendered, by degrees, conformed, and then
uniform; and the passive capacity of the creature is elevated,
ennobled, and enlarged, though in a secret and hidden manner, and
therefore called mystical: but in all these operations the soul must
concur passively. It is true, indeed, that at the beginning of its
purification activity is requisite; which as the Divine Operations
become stronger and stronger it must gradually cease, yielding itself
up to the impulses of the Divine Spirit, till wholly absorbed in Him.
But this is often a difficult and tedious process.We do not then say,
as some have falsely supposed, that there is no need of action in the
process of Divine Purification; on the contrary, we affirm it is the
gate; at which, however, we would not have those stop who are to obtain
ultimate perfection, which is impractible, except the first helps are
laid aside: for, however necessary they may have been at the entrance
of the road, they become afterwards mere clogs, and greatly detrimental
to those who adhere to them, preventing them from ever arriving at the
end of their course. This made S. Paul say, "Forgetting those things
which are behind and reaching forth to those which are before, I press
toward the mark for the prize of the high calling in Christ Jesus"
(Phil. iii. 13).Would you not say that he had lost his senses, who,
having undertaken an important journey, should fix his abode at the
first inn because he had been told that many travellers who had come
that way had lodged in the house and made it their place of residence?
All that we would wish then is, that souls should press toward the
mark, should pursue their journey, and take the shortest and easiest
road; not stopping at the first stage, but following the counsel and
example of S. Paul, suffer themselves to be guided and governed by the
Spirit of Grace which would infallibly conduct them to the end of their
creation, the enjoyment of God. But while we confess that the enjoyment
of God is the end for which alone we were created; that without
holiness none can attain it: and that to attain it, we must necessarily
pass through a severe and purifying process; how strange is it that we
should dread and avoid this process, as if that could be the cause of
evil or imperfection in the present life, which is to be productive of
glory and blessedness in the life to come!None can be ignorant that God
is the Supreme Good; that essential blessedness consists in Union with
Him; that the Saints are more or less glorified, according as this
Union is more or less advanced; and that the soul cannot attain this
Union by the mere activity of its own powers: for God communicates
Himself to the soul in proportion as its passive capacity is great,
noble, and extensive; it cannot be united to God but in simplicity and
passivity; and as this Union is beatitude itself, the way to it in
simplicity and passivity, instead of being evil, must be good, must be
most free from delusion and danger, the safest, the surest, and the
best.Would Jesus Christ have made this the most perfect and necessary
way had there been evil or danger therein? No! all can travel this road
to blessedness; and all are called thereto, as to the enjoyment of God,
which alone is beatitude, both in this world and the next. I say the
enjoyment of God Himself and not His gifts which, as they do not
constitute essential beatitude, cannot fully content an immortal
spirit: the soul is so noble, so great, that the most exalted gifts of
God cannot fill its immense capacity with happiness unless the Giver
also bestows Himself. Now the whole desire of the Divine Being is to
give Himself to every creature, according to the capacity with which it
is endued; and yet, alas! how reluctantly man suffers himself to be
drawn to God! how fearful is he to prepare for Divine Union!Some say
that we should not attempt, by our own ability, to place ourselves in
this state. I grant it: but what a poor subterfuge is this? since I
have all along asserted and proved that the utmost exertion of the
highest created being could never accomplish this of itself: it is God
alone must do it. The creature may, indeed, open the window; but it is
the sun himself that must give the light.The same persons say again
that some may feign to have attained this blessed state: but, alas!
none can any more feign this than the wretch, who is on the point of
perishing with hunger can for a length of time feign to be full and
satisfied; some wish or word, some sigh or sign, will inevitably escape
him, and betray his famished state.Since then none can attain this
blessed state save those whom God Himself leads and places therein, we
do not pretend to introduce any into it, but only to point out the
shortest and safest road that leads to it: beseeching you not to be
retarded in your progress by any external exercises, not to sit down a
resident at the first inn, nor to be satisfied with the sweets which
are tasted in the milk for babes. If the Water of Eternal Life is shown
to some thirsty souls, how inexpressibly cruel would it be, by
confining them to a round of external forms, to prevent their
approaching it, so that their longing shall never be satisfied but they
shall perish with thirst!Let us all agree in the way, as we all agree
in the end, which is evident and incontrovertible. The way has its
beginning, progress, and end; and the nearer we approach the end, the
farther is the beginning behind us: it is only by proceeding from one
that we can ever arrive at the other. Would you get from the entrance
to the distant end of the road without passing over the intermediate
space? And surely, if the end is good, holy, and necessary, and the
entrance also good, can that be condemnable, as evil, which is the
necessary passage, the direct road leading from the one to the other?O
ye blind and foolish men, who pride yourselves on science, wisdom, wit,
and power, how well do you verify what God hath said, that "His Secrets
are hidden from the great and wise, and revealed unto The Little Ones -
The Babes!"
Posts in this series:Madame Guyon - A Spiritual ReadingMadame Guyon - A
Short and Easy Method of Prayer - PrefaceMadame Guyon - A Short and
Easy Method of Prayer - Chapter 1Madame Guyon - A Short and Easy Method
of Prayer - Chapter 2Madame Guyon - A Short and Easy Method of Prayer -
Chapter 3Madame Guyon - A Short and Easy Method of Prayer - Chapter
4Madame Guyon - A Short and Easy Method of Prayer - Chapter 5Madame
Guyon - A Short and Easy Method of Prayer - Chapter 6Madame Guyon - A
Short and Easy Method of Prayer - Chapter 7Madame Guyon - A Short and
Easy Method of Prayer - Chapter 8Madame Guyon - A Short and Easy Method
of Prayer - Chapter 9Madame Guyon - A Short and Easy Method of Prayer -
Chapter 10Madame Guyon - A Short and Easy Method of Prayer - Chapter
11Madame Guyon - A Short and Easy Method of Prayer - Chapter 12Madame
Guyon - A Short and Easy Method of Prayer - Chapter 13Madame Guyon - A
Short and Easy Method of Prayer - Chapter 14Madame Guyon - A Short and
Easy Method of Prayer - Chapter 15Madame Guyon - A Short and Easy
Method of Prayer - Chapter 16Madame Guyon - A Short and Easy Method of
Prayer - Chapter 17Madame Guyon - A Short and Easy Method of Prayer -
Chapter 18Madame Guyon - A Short and Easy Method of Prayer - Chapter
19Madame Guyon - A Short and Easy Method of Prayer - Chapter 20Madame
Guyon - A Short and Easy Method of Prayer - Chapter 21Madame Guyon - A
Short and Easy Method of Prayer - Chapter 22

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Posted By Mal to a reasonable mystic at 1/27/2009 05:34:00 PM