o love God might commence to be expressed as being a great quiet,
an intense activity, a prodigious joy, and the poignant knowledge of
_the immensity of an amazing new life shared._

The contemplation of God might be expressed as the folding up or
complete forgetfulness of all earthly and bodily things, desires, and
attractions, and the raising of the heart and mind and the centring of
them in great and joyful intensity upon God, by means of love. Of
this contemplation of God I find two principal forms: the passive
and the active. In the first we are in a state of steady, quiet, and
loving perception and reception, and at some farness; in this we are
able to remain for hours, entering this state when waking at dawn
and remaining in it till rising.

In active contemplation we are in rapturous and passionate adoration
with great nearness, and are not able to remain in it long because of
bodily weakness. The soul feels to be never tired by the longest
flight, but must return because of the exhaustion of the forlorn and
wretched creature, which creature is complete in itself, having its
body, of which, being able to touch it, we say, "It is my body," and
its heart and mind with intelligence, of which we are wont to think,
"This is myself"; yet it is but a part, for the intelligence of our
creature is by no means the intelligence of the divine soul, but a far
lesser light: for with the intelligence of the divine soul we reach out
to God and attain Him, but with the intelligence of the creature we
reach towards Him but do not attain, for with it we are unable to
penetrate the veil. Therefore, who would know the joys of
contemplation must come to them by love, for love is the only
means by which the creature can attain. The soul attains God as her
birthright, but the creature by adoption and redemption, and this
through love. By love the creature dies and is reborn into the spirit.

* * *

The word "poverty," as used to express a necessary condition of our
coming to God, is a most misleading term. For how can any
condition be rightly named poverty which brings us into the riches
of God? Rather let us use the words "singleness of heart," or
"simplicity": which is to say, we _put out_ all other interests save
those pleasing to God (to commence with), and afterwards we reach
the condition in which we _have no_ interests but in God Himself--the
heart and mind and will of the creature becoming wholly God's,
and God filling the