But it is necessary to desire the glory of God as he desires it. He
who has absolute power over the heart of man, has a plan of operations;
he does all things in their time; he waits until the hour is come. In
coming into the world, our Lord could have converted the world at once,
and destroyed all its vices; but the economy of his wisdom did not so
direct. When I hear our Lord say, "_Mine hour is not yet come_," and
wishing neither to advance nor retard, for a moment, the hour that his
Father had appointed, I am plunged into my nothingness. We are only
instruments in his hands, which he may lay aside, or use according to
his good pleasure. We should be so dead to self, as to be indifferent,
whether he makes use of us or not.

Remain, therefore, my dear friend, in the hand of God. Let him
accomplish in you, and by you, all his good pleasure, whether to cast
down, or build up. God knows how much I love you.

SPIRITUAL UNION AND AID.

Spiritual union, is a state of the soul very clear in my perception,
although I may not be able to give you a definite impression of this
state. In order to benefit you, it became necessary for me to enter
into your state, to have an experimental knowledge, an endurance and
suffering of the same state. By this experience I have been brought
into closer relation to God, partaking more fully of the Christ-like
nature by being rendered capable of bearing the infirmities of others.
And I have had, also, a clearer idea of that quality of God, whereby he
multiplies holy souls, by the communication of himself. In this
experience, the soul appears to be in God, and God in her, as first
cause, drawing and penetrating the soul nearest to himself, and by
penetration, in this soul, drawing, through her instrumentality, many
other Souls.

Although, by these powerful rays the soul itself may seem to penetrate
and draw other souls, yet it is God who draws them by his efficiency;
and he communicates this efficiency, most powerfully, to those in
closest contact with himself. So pure and transparent is this soul,
that there seems to be no space between the first Mover and the souls
moved by the agent or instrumentality. There is a difference between
the ray and the body of the sun, although it is difficult to separate
the ray from the sun. It is the divine ray, which is transmitted
through this soul, as the natural ray through the medium of the
atmosphere. These same rays, transmitte