Creature_, and to seek the
eternal rest which is _in Christ_. To which rest thou having thus
attained, thy Will may therein safely rest and repose itself, according
as thy Lord Christ hath said: In me ye may have rest, but in the World
ye shall have anxiety: In me ye may have peace, but in the World ye
shall have tribulation.

DISCIPLE

How now shall I be able to subsist in this anxiety and tribulation
arising from the World so as not to lose the eternal peace, or not to
enter into this rest? And how may I recover myself in such a temptation
as this is, by not sinking under the World, but rising above it by a
life which is truly heavenly and supersensual?

MASTER

If thou dost once every hour throw thyself by faith beyond all
creatures, beyond and above all sensual perception and apprehension,
yea, above discourse and reasoning into the abyssal mercy of God, into
the sufferings of our Lord, and into the fellowship of his interceding,
and yieldest thyself fully and absolutely thereinto; then thou shalt
receive power from above to rule over Death and the Devil and to subdue
Hell and the World unto thee. And then thou mayest subsist in all
temptations, and be the brighter for them.

DISCIPLE

Blessed is the man that arriveth to such a state as this. But, alas,
poor man that I am, how is this possible as to me? And what, O my
Master, would become of me, if I should ever attain with my mind to that
where no creature is? Must I not cry out, _I am undone_?

MASTER

Son, why art thou so dispirited? Be of good heart still; for thou mayest
certainly yet attain to it. Do but believe, and all things are made
possible to thee. If it were that thy Will, O thou of so little courage,
could break off itself for an hour, or even but for a half hour, from
all creatures, and plunge itself into that where no creature is, or can
be; presently it would be penetrated and clothed upon with the supreme
splendour of the Divine Glory, would taste in itself the most sweet Love
of Jesus, the sweetness whereof no tongue can express, and would find in
itself the unspeakable words of our Lord concerning his great mercy. Thy
spirit would then feel in itself the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ to
be very pleasing to it; and would thereupon love the Cross more than the
honours and goods of the World.

DISCIPLE

This for the Soul would be exceeding well indeed. But what would then
become of the Body, seeing that it must of necessity live in _