New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1876-03-12


to dive into and understand the &c
cret counsel and will of God, 80 that ~
would fain know wherefore God doett
this or doeth that and the like, desireth
the same as Adam and the devil"
Therefore, it should be enough for rs te
feel ourselves and to seem to be the redec
ton of the divine until We actually be
come such. The divine light that shines
through us no one should put under
bushel, nor extinguish, but should let II
stream forth to illuminate and warm all
around. Then one feels living fire in
the veins and higher dedication to the
battle of life. Even the smallest duties re-
mind us of God; the earthly becomes
divine and the temporal eternal, and our
entire life, life in God. God is not eter-
nal rest; God is eternal life, and this
Angelus Silesius forgets when he says:
God is without will.
We pray, my Lord and God, Thy viii be done.
Behold, He wills not; stiffness is His throne.
She listened to me patiently, and after
little reflection, said:
"To your faith belong health and
strength but there are souls tired of life
that long for rest and sleep, that feel
themselves SO much alone, that when they
fall asleep in God, miss the world as little
as the world misses them. To them it is
foretaste of the divine rest if they can
even now sink into the godlike, and they
can, for there is no bond that binds them
to this world, and there is no other wish
to disturb their heart than the wish for
rest.
Rest is the highest good were God not rest,
Ia clOse my eyes before Him, and be blesr.
But you do the German theologian
injustice. It is true he teaches the emp
tiness of the outer life, but he would
not see it destroyed. But, read the
twenty-eighth chapter to me-"
I took the book and read, while she
closed her eyes and listened.
Now when this union really cometh to
pass, and becometh established, the in
ward man standing henceforward immov-
able in this union. God suhereth the olt-
ward man to be moved hither and thithe-,
from this to that of such things as are nee
essary and right. lave no willto be or
not to be, to live OF die, to know or not
to know, to do or to leave undone, and
the like; but I am ready for all that is to
be, or ought to be, and obedient there
unto, whether have to do or to suffer.
And thus the outward man hath no where
fore or purpose but only to do his part to
further the eternal will. For it is per-
ceived of truth that the in.
ward man shall stand immovable,
and that it is needful for the
outward man to be moved. And if the
inward man have any wherefore in the &C.
tons of the outward man, he saith only
that such things must be and ought to be
as are ordained by the eternal will. And
where God Himself dwelleth in the man
it is thus, as we plainly see in Christ.
Moreover, where there is this union which
is the offspring of divine light and
dwelleth in its beams, there is no spiritual
pride or irreverent spirit but boundless
humility and lowly, broken heart, also
an honest, blameless walk. Justice,
peace, content and all that is of virtue
must needs be there. Where they are not,
there is no right union, as we have said;
for just as neither this thing nor that can
bring about or further this union, so there
Is nothing which hath power to Illustrate
or hinder it save the man himself, with his
self-will, that doeth this great wrong. OF
this be well assured.
"That is enough" said she, "and 1
think we understand each other now. In
another place our unknown friend says
still palmer, that no man is unmoved in
tie presence of death, and that the cody
man is like the hand of God-it does
nothing of itself, but what God wills; or
like house in which God dwells, and
God possessed man feels this fully. he
does not speak Of it, but guards his life in
God as secret of love. often feel like
the silver poplar before my window. In
the evening it is perfectly still, and not
leaf trembles or stirs; but when the morn
ing wind rocks and losses every leaf, the
trunk with its branches still stands firm
and immovable; and when autumn comes
all its once dancing foliage falls to the
earth, but the trunk awaits new spring."
She had SC completely taken up her
abode in this ideal world, that did not
wish to disturb her. It was with difficulty
that I had torn myself from the magic
circle of these thoughts, and doubted
whether she had not chosen that better
part which should not be taken from her,
while we have much care and trouble.
Thus every evening brought its new
conversation, and with every evening 1
new view into that infinite soul.
She had no secret from me; her speech
was simply thinking and feeling aloud,
md what she said must have been in her
heart for years, for she poured out her |
thoughts as carelessly as child that has
picked its lap full of flowers and then
:hrows them all upon the lawn. could
not open my soul to her as she lid hers to |
ne, and that oppressed and panied me.
And yet how few, amid the continual de- |
'eit which society forces upon us, which |
t calls manners, politeness, regard, pru-
lence, knowledge of life, and with which |
t turns our whole life into masquerade
low few, even if they wish to do so, can
:egain the truth of their nature! Even
owe may not speak its own language, nor
its own silence, but must learn
he coined words of the poet, and sigh and |