Book V, Chapter II

From that One Word are all things, and all speak that One

(On these words) — ■“ From that One Word are all things, and all speak that One.” B. i. c. 3.

Question. — How is it that all creatures hold the same language, and speak but one thing which is contained in the unity of the Word?

Answer. — It is, that souls illuminated by God look solely and with a single eye to the Divine Word, Who manifests His infinite Perfections to them in all things, and enables them to comprehend them by a sovereign reason by which alone they are guided.

To explain this better, it must be understood that the pure in spirit look at all things in their principle; that they regard God Alone; and that whatever charms, whatever beauty or goodness, may be in creatures, they pay no regard to them; that is, that in all they see, in all they propose to themselves, in all they undertake, they make no difference between high and low, little and great, but consider solely the relation that all things bear to God. The way in which they preserve this purity of intention is this they practise three things, called by the masters of the spiritual life — conformity, uniformity, Deiformity. j

Question. — What is conformity?

Answer. — It is a holy habit of conforming our- selves in all things to the will of God, and of taking precisely so much of all things as pleases God. Thus a secular man, who has a wife, children, and pro- perty, must look only to the Divine Will with regard ’ to these things; he must leave all the events of his;

life to the care of Providence, and be able to say with the Saviour, I do always those things that please Him. John viii. 29.

Question. — What is uniformity?

Answer. — It is the disposition in which the soul finds herself, when, having exercised herself in doing those things that please God, all things appear to her but as one through their relation to the Divine Will; • because she does not examine her own particular reasons for loving or hating each thing, proposing to herself only this general reason, — God desires it, God wills it, God commands it. This is rightly i called uniformity; for this one consideration effaces all others, and makes all things alike; so that abasement is loved as much as elevation, because the soul is convinced that it is the Divine Will which gives a value to all things; and, in fact, all motives are united in that one — the Will of the Supreme Master, Who Alone is worthy of our love and service. I jf ‘ t

Question. — What is Deiformity? i

Answer. — It is another and more excellent dispo- i sition, in which a soul, already accustomed to look only to that general reason which makes all things equal and indifferent to her, becomes lost in God, and incapable of seeing any thing but God in all surrounding objects. As then by long striving she has effaced all images of creatures from her mind, so far at least that they no longer make any impression on her will, all her views and desires tend towards the Creator; she sees Him in all things and in all I places; she discovers Him in His works; and when I she thinks of created things, it is as if she thought not of them, because she is completely filled and S occupied with God, and loves Him Alone. This view of God, so universal and so simple, teaches her j

WHAT IS TO GIVE ALL FOR ALL. 179 far better, and makes her know things far more thoroughly than they can be known by those who regard them in themselves, and not in their First Cause. This is what our Author means by these words “ He to whom the Eternal Word speaketh, is delivered from a world of unnecessary conceptions4.”