C
H A P T E R ~ XLIV
How
nothing is contrary to God but Self-will and how he who seeketh his own
Good for his own sake, findeth it not; and how a Man of himself neither
knoweth nor can do any good Thing.
NOW, it may
be asked; is there aught which is contrary to God and the true Good? I say,
No. Likewise, there is nothing without God, except to will otherwise than
is willed by the Eternal Will; that is, contrary to the Eternal Will. Now
the Eternal Will willeth that nothing be willed or loved but the Eternal
Goodness. And where it is otherwise, there is something contrary to Him,
and in this sense it is true that he who is without God is contrary to God;
but in truth there is no Being contrary to God or the true Good.
We must understand
it as though God said: "He who willeth without Me, or willeth not what
I will, or otherwise than as I will, he willeth contrary to Me, for My will
is that no one should will otherwise than I, and that there should be no
will without Me, and without My will; even as without Me, there is neither
Substance, nor Life, nor this, nor that, so also there should be no Will
apart from Me, and without My will." And even as in truth all beings
are one in substance in the Perfect Being, and all good is one in the One
Being, and so forth, and cannot exist without that One, so shall all wills
be one in the One Perfect Will, and there shall be no will apart from that
One. And whatever is otherwise is wrong, and contrary to God and His will,
and therefore it is sin. Therefore all will apart from God's will (that
is, all self-will) is sin, and so is all that is done from self-will. So
long as a man seeketh his own will and his own highest Good, because it
is his and for his own sake, he will never find it; for so long
as he doeth this, he is not seeking his own highest Good, and how then should
he find it? For so long as he doeth this, he seeketh himself, and dreameth
that he is himself the highest Good; and seeing that he is not the highest
Good, he seeketh not the highest Good, so long as he seeketh himself. But
whosoever seeketh, loveth, and pursueth Goodness as Goodness and for the
sake of Goodness, and maketh that his end, for nothing but the love of Goodness,
not for love of the I, Me, Mine, Self, and the like, he will find the highest
Good, for he seeketh it aright, and they who seek it otherwise do err. And
truly it is on this wise that the true and Perfect Goodness seeketh and
loveth and pursueth itself, and therefore it findeth itself.
It
is a great folly when a man, or any creature, dreameth that he knoweth or
can accomplish aught of himself, and above all when he dreameth that he
knoweth or can fulfil any good thing, whereby he may deserve much at God's
hands, and prevail with Him. If he understood rightly, he would see that
this is to put a great affront upon God. But the True and Perfect Goodness
hath compassion on the foolish simple man who knoweth no better, and ordereth
things for the best for him, and giveth him as much of the good things of
God as he is able to receive. But as we have said afore, he findeth and
receiveth not the True Good so long as he remaineth unchanged; for unless
Self and Me depart, he will never find or receive it.
C
H A P T E R ~ XLV
How
that where there is a Christian Life, Christ dwelleth, and how Christ's
Life is the best and most admirable Life that ever hath been or can be.
HE who knoweth
and understandeth Christ's life, knoweth and understandeth Christ Himself;
and in like manner, he who understandeth not His life, doth not understand
Christ Himself. And he who believeth on Christ, believeth that His life
is the best and noblest life that can be, and if a man believe not this,
neither doth he believe on Christ Himself. And in so far as a man's life
is according to Christ, Christ Himself dwelleth in him, and if he hath not
the one neither hath he the other. For where there is the life of Christ,
there is Christ Himself, and where His life is not, Christ is not, and where
a man hath His life, he may say with St. Paul, "I live, yet not I,
but Christ liveth in me."And this is the noblest and best life; for
in him who hath it, God Himself dwelleth, with all Goodness. So how could
there be a better life? When we speak of obedience, of the new man, of the
True Light, the True Love, or the life of Christ, it is all the same thing,
and where one of these is, there are they all, and where one is wanting,
there is none of them, for they are all one in truth and substance. And
whatever may bring about that new birth which maketh alive in Christ, to
that let us cleave with all our might and to nought else; and let us forswear
and flee all that may hinder it.
C
H A P T E R ~ XLVI
How
entire Satisfaction and true Rest are to be found in God alone, and not
in any Creature; and how he who Will be obedient unto God, must also be
obedient to the Creatures, with all Quietness, and he who would love God,
must love all Things in One.
IT is said,
that he who is content to find all his satisfaction in God, hath enough;
and this is true. And he who findeth satisfaction in aught which is this
and that, findeth it not in God; and he who findeth it in God, findeth it
in nothing else, but in that which is neither this nor that, but is All.
For God is One and must be One, and God is All and must be All. And now
what is, and is not One, is not God; and what is, and is not All and above
All, is also not God, for God is One and above One, and All and above All.
Now he who findeth full satisfaction in God, receiveth all his satisfaction
from One source, and from One only, as One. And a man cannot find all satisfaction
in God, unless all things are One to him, and One is All, and aught and
nought (anything and nothing) are alike. But where it should be thus, there
would be true satisfaction, and not else.
Therefore also,
he who will wholly commit himself unto God and be obedient to Him, must
also resign himself to all things, and be willing to suffer them, without
resisting or defending himself or calling for succour. And he who doth not
thus resign or submit himself to all things in One as One, doth not resign
or submit himself to God. Let us look at Christ. And he who shall and will
lie still under God's hand, must lie still under all things in One as One,
and in no wise withstand any suffering. Such an one were a Christ. And he
who fighteth against affliction, and refuseth to endure it, is truly fighting
against God. That is to say, we may not withstand any creature or thing
by force of war, either in will or works. But we may indeed, without sin,
prevent affliction, or avoid it, or flee from it.
Now he who
shall or will love God, loveth all things in One as All, One and All, and
One in All as All in One; and he who loveth somewhat, this or that, otherwise
than in the One, and for the sake of the One, loveth not God; for he loveth
somewhat which is not God. Therefore he loveth it more than God. Now he
who loveth somewhat more than God or along with God, loveth not God, for
He must be and will be alone loved, and verily nothing ought to be loved
but God alone. And when the true divine Light and Love dwell in a man, he
loveth nothing else but God alone, for he loveth God as Goodness and for
the sake of Goodness, and all Goodness as One, and one as All; for, in truth,
All is One and One is All in God.
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