l is exposed to lesser or greater degrees of this energy, so she
enters lesser or greater degrees of raptures.

It is misleading in these states of ecstasy to say that the soul has
vision, if by vision is to be understood anything that has to do with
concrete forms or any kind of sight; for the soul is totally blind. But
she makes no account of this blindness and has her fill of all bliss
and of the knowledge of another manner of living without any need
whatever of sight. Has the wind eyes or feet? yet it possesses the
earth and is not prevented. So the soul, without eyes and without
hands, possesses God.

Contact with God is then of the nature of the Infusion of Energy.
The infusions of this energy may take the form of causing us to have
an acute intense perception and consciousness (but not such form of
perception as would permit us to say "I saw," but a magnetic inward
cognisance, a fire of knowledge which scintillates about the soul and
pierces her) of His perfections; of His tenderness, His sweetness,
His holiness, His beauty. When either of these last two are made
known to her, the soul passes into what can only be named as an
agony of bliss, insupportable even to the soul for more than a very
brief time, and because of the fearful stress of it the soul draws away
and prays to be covered from the unbearable happiness of it, this
being granted her whether automatically (that is to say, because of
spiritual law) or whether by direct and merciful will of God--who is
able to tell?

Such experiences are not for the timid, but require steady courage
and perfect loving trust in God.

Contemplation even in its highest forms is not to be confused with
spiritual "experiences," which are totally apart from anything else
that we may know in life--they are entirely outside of our volition,
they are not to be prayed for, they are not to be even secretly desired,
but to be accepted how and when and if God so chooses.

In contemplation the will is used, and we are not able to come to it
without the will is penetratingly used towards the joining and
meeting with the will and love of God. In the purely spiritual
"experience" from first to last there is no will but an absence of will,
a total submission and yielding to God, without questioning, without
fear, without curiosity, and the only will used is to keep ourselves in
willingness to submit to whatever He shall choose to expose us to.
God does not open to us such experienc