ght God in many places, till at last he came
to find Him within himself. You need not go to heaven to see God, or to
regale yourself with God. Nor need you speak loud as if He were far
away. Nor need you cry for wings like a dove so as to fly to Him. Settle
yourself in solitude, and you will come upon God in yourself. And then
entreat Him as your Father, and relate to Him your troubles. Those who
can in this manner shut themselves up in the little heaven of their own
hearts, where He dwells who made heaven and earth, let them be sure that
they walk in the most excellent way: they lay their pipe right up to the
fountain. To keep the eyes shut is an excellent practice in prayer,
because it is a summons and an assistance to turn the eyes of the soul
within, where God dwells and waits in Christ to be gracious. Account
thus, that there is a great and beautiful palace in your soul; that its
structure is all of gold and precious stones; that your gifts and graces
are those shining stones, and that the greater your virtues are the more
those precious stones sparkle. And, also, that in this palace the Great
King is your guest. He sits on the innermost seat of your heart, and
holds it to be His best and bravest throne. This will seem to some a
silly fiction. And yet, if you will believe it, fiction as it is, it
will help you much; you especially who are women. For we women sorely
want such assistance to our thoughts. And, God grant that it be only
women who need such assistance to show them how base is the use they make
of themselves. There should be some difference between us, both men and
women, and the brute beasts. The brute beasts are nowhere said to be
temples of God, and they are nowhere called to account because their god
is their belly. O great God, I tremble to see that I have written such a
page as the above, being such a wretch as I am. My daughters, in their
own goodness, will be tempted to think that all this is true of myself,
and that is a terrible thought to me. On the other hand, it is true of
God and their own souls. Now let men pass a thousand censures on me, and
on my way of teaching the truth. What of that, if only God and His ways
be a little better known and loved! My sisters, the King is in His
palace all this time. There are hostile invasions of His borders, and
inroads made into His territories, but He abides all the time on His
throne. I smile at the weakness and unworthiness of al