s loss of the will is the true ecstasy, which is a permanent state,
and is effected without any violence to nature. When love is the
controlling exercise, the will follows, and the soul is reduced to
unity; as in the natural exercise of love, the stronger the love, the
greater the submission of the soul to the object beloved. Sacred love
does not bind parts, but draws it fully, until it is absorbed wholly in
this divine oneness.

The mind may tend towards its divine object, with ardor, but the will
not concurring, causes dissonance and swooning, or impetuous
transports. I call this momentary ecstasy; it cannot long endure
without separating the soul from the body.

The difference between these two states is, as that of water, retained
in the air by a machine, and of a river, running naturally into the
sea, as ordered by the grand Architect of the universe. Love, which
carries the will in its train, changes the whole man; this is the
divine, the true ecstasy. This is what is called transformation, and
loss of the soul in God. It is certain, however, that the creature
always remains a being distinct from God.

A VIEW OF SELF.

The activity of the natural selfish life, is the greatest obstacle to
your progress. Allow of nothing which gives sustenance to this life.
Be on your guard against applause. Applaud not yourself when you have
done well. Admit no reflections in regard to the good you have
accomplished, so that all that nourishes self-complacency may die.

Possess your soul in peace as much as possible; not by effort, but by
ceasing from effort; by letting go everything that troubles you. Be
quiet, that you may settle, as we leave water to settle when agitated.
When you discover your errors and sins, do not stop, under whatever
good pretext, to remedy them. Rather abandon yourself at once to God,
that he may destroy, in you, all that its displeasing to him. I assure
you, you are not capable of yourself, to correct the least fault. Your
only remedy is abandonment to God, and remaining quiet in his hands.
If you discovered the depth of inward corruption in your heart, your
courage would fail! On this account, God conceals from us, in part,
the view of our sins, and discovers them to us, only as he destroys
them.

Rest assured, God loves you. He will take care of you. Have faith in
his love and mercy. You will see farther by and by. When you are in
trouble, do not fail to write me. Have go