Letter 36. To Madame De Chantal

ON THE PRESENCE OF GOD.

• Jan, 16, i6ia

To abide in the Presence of God, and to place oneself in that Presence, are, it seems to me, different things. In order to place oneself before the Presence of God, it is needful to call the soul from every other object, and fix the attention solely on Him as Present; but having once placed oneself there, one can abide in It, while making acts either of the imderstanding or the will; while gazing upon Him, or upon other objects for Love of Him; or while simply speaking to Him, even while merely remaining where He has placed us, as a statue abides in its niche. And if we can add to this simple abiding some consciousness of belonging to God, and of Him as our All, we ought to be most thankful for such grace.

Suppose a statue in its niche capable of speech, and ask of it, “ Wherefore art thou here? " it would reply, “ Because my master, the sculptor, placed me here." “Wherefore art thou motionless?" “Because he willed me so to be." “ Of what use art thou?

What does.it profit thee to be there?" ‘‘I am not here for my own sake, but solely because it is the will of my master." ** But thou canst not even see 1 " “No, but he sees me, and chooses that I should abide here." “Wouldst not thou fain have the power to move, and go nearer thy master?" “Not so, unless he willed it" “Hast thou no wishes?^' “ None, for I am where my master placed me, and his pleasure is the sole object of my existence.”

My daughter, what better prayer, what better way of abiding in God^s Presence, than to give oneself up to His Will and Pleasure? I think Magdalene was as a statue in its niche when she sat motionless, silent, maybe without even gazing upon Him, at her Saviour's Feet, listening to His gracious words when He spoke, no less attentive and earnest when He was silent A little child asleep on the breast of its sleeping mother is in the best and happiest of all conditions, although it does not speak to her, or she to it

Happy indeed are we when we seek to love our Lord. Let us love Him, without striving to inquire too inquisitively what we are doing for love's sake, so long as we know that our aim is to do all things in and through that Love. I believe that we may abide in God's Presence even while we sleep \ we fall asleep in His Sight, because it is His Will; He lays us on our bed, as a statue in its niche, and when we awake we shall find Him there yet He has never left us, or we Him; we have been all the time in His Presence, although our eyes were closed.

[.96.1 XXXVIIL