d has no more to
learn.

When the love of the soul, as it were, exceeds itself, it passes up and
beyond even the song of love; and being unable to express itself by
words or by song, or by deep sighings, or by any of those subtle,
silent, spiritual means known only between herself and God, when
all means fail because of the too great stress of her adoration, then
the soul passes into a great pain, which is the anguish of love and a
hard thing to bear. This excess is to the fullness of the Godhead.

And now the soul must turn to prayer for help, but not to the
Godhead: for the more she turns to the Godhead the greater becomes
her anguish. But coming down to His humanity, she must beseech
sweet Jesus for His aid, and so regain her equilibrium.

* * *

Many of us are, perhaps unwittingly, impudent to God. In this way
we are impudent: We question (even though it be in secret, hidden in
the heart and not spoken) the justice of God, the ways of God, the
plans of God, the love of God: by which means we argue with God
and judge Him. And another manner of impudence we have is this,
that we dare to attribute or to blame Him for the results of man's
own filth, saying: "This and this is the will of God, for we see that it
exists, and His will is omnipotent." Oh, beware of this impudence,
drop it out of the heart and mind, and flee from it as from the plague!
"How then can these things be, if He is omnipotent?" we say.
Because of this, that in the trust of His great love He gave us the
royal and Godly gift of free-will, and our souls have proved
themselves unworthy to have it; and now the creature is brought
before the Beautiful, and the Holy, and the Pure, but turning away,
like the sow, prefers the mire and the festering sores proceeding
from such wallowings. If there were no choice, there were no virtue,
and no progress home. But let no man venture in his heart to
attribute to that Holy and Marvellous Being whom we speak of as
God, not knowing as yet His Name, any will towards festers and
corruptions, for what does He say Himself? "Their sins rise up
before Me and stink in My nostrils!"

We surely forget that this world is not yet God's Kingdom, and that
His will is not done here, and will not be until the Judgment Day.
This world is but a tiny testing-chamber in His mighty workshop;
and great and wonderful is the care He has for the workers in it.

O man! whence come thy wretchednesses? Look round and think.
Do they not