Reason may at times oppose with all its strength, and cause some fears, some hesitations; but, being fixed in God, it is impossible for the soul to change its course; and, after the experience of many useless sufferings, having their origin in self, it suffers itself to be drawn in the current of love.
There is now no more of violence to nature. The soul is in its natural state. It is as much the nature of man, originally, and in his new creation in the likeness of Christ, to be in God, and to be there in perfect enlargement, simplicity, and innocence, as it is the nature of water to flow in its channel.
✦ Where It Was Always Meant to Be
This may be the most liberating sentence Guyon has written in twenty-three days. She is not describing something extraordinary. She is describing something natural. The soul in God is not straining. It is not performing. It is not holding a difficult position through willpower. It is flowing — the way water flows in its channel. Without effort. Without violence. Because that is where it was always meant to be.
After the experience of many useless sufferings, having their origin in self. Useless sufferings. Guyon does not mince words. The sufferings that come from self — from reason fighting the current, from the will resisting the passage, from the mind insisting on control — are useless. They produce nothing. They form nothing. They are the thrashing of the water against its own channel. And eventually, after enough useless exhaustion, the soul simply lets go — and discovers that the current was carrying it home all along. 🙏
The force of reason as a battle — until you have the mind of Christ. 🙏
Le names the transition point. The reason fights because it does not yet see what faith sees. It opposes, it fears, it hesitates — because from where reason stands, the current of love looks like the loss of control. And it is. But the loss of control is the gain of nature. The water that fights the channel exhausts itself. The water that flows in the channel arrives. 1 Corinthians 2:16 — we have the mind of Christ. And the mind of Christ does not fight the current. It is the current.
"It is as much the nature of man to be in God as it is the nature of water to flow in its channel."
Madame Guyon · Not straining. Not performing. Flowing.When man is as he should be, his state is one of infinite ease and without limitations, because he is created sovereign, or master of himself, and cannot be subjected by anything created, although he is subjected to God — if that may be called subjection, which brings the soul into affinity with God, and makes it partaker of His nature.
✦ Subjection That Is Not Subjection
Guyon's final turn: the soul subjected to God is the soul most free. The sovereignty is not lost by the surrender — it is restored. The soul that has stopped fighting the channel and started flowing discovers what it was created to be: sovereign, master of itself, subjected to nothing created. The only subjection is to God — and Guyon hesitates even to call it subjection, because it brings the soul into affinity with God and makes it partaker of His nature.
A state of infinite ease and without limitations. Not the ease of laziness. Not the ease of apathy. The ease of water in its channel — doing exactly what it was designed to do, going exactly where it was designed to go. The natural state of the new creation. 🙏
It's hard when you say to a neighbour, "I trust God" — and they look at you like, where is your reason? 🙏
✦ The Look — And the River
That look — that is exactly what Guyon describes. Reason may oppose with all its strength, and cause some fears, some hesitations. The neighbour's reason is doing what reason does: it sees the precipice and calls it madness. It sees the surrender and calls it weakness. It sees the trust and asks: where is the plan?
But Guyon's answer is the water. The neighbour is standing on the bank, asking the river where its reason is. And the river is not arguing. It is not explaining. It is flowing. Because that is its nature — and no amount of reasonable objection from the bank will change the channel.
"I trust God" — three words. And the look is the same look Mary got, and Abraham got, and every soul that ever chose the current over the bank. The look is the price. The flow is the reward. 🙏
The Current of Love
After many useless sufferings having their origin in self, the soul lets go and is drawn in the current. The water flows in its channel. Not straining. Not performing. Natural. Where it was always meant to be.
Sovereignty Restored
The soul subjected to God is the soul most free. Created sovereign, master of itself, subjected to nothing created. The subjection to God is not subjection — it is affinity. Partaker of His nature. Infinite ease.
"I Trust God"
Three words — and the neighbour's look. Where is your reason? But the river does not argue with the bank. It flows. The look is the price. The flow is the reward.
Guyon's twenty-third day. And today she gives us the image that holds the whole series: water flowing in its channel. Not fighting. Not straining. Flowing — because that is its nature.
Day four — the vacuum: "As the air rushes to a vacuum, so God fills the soul emptied of self." The air did not argue with the vacuum. It rushed in — naturally. And the water does not argue with the channel. It flows — naturally. The whole interior life, from day one to day twenty-three, is the soul discovering what is natural.
Day six — the bird released: "As a bird let loose from its cage." The bird did not need to be taught to fly. It needed to be released. And the water does not need to be taught to flow. It needs the channel cleared. Release and flow — the same grace, two images.
Day eleven — vicissitudes equalised: "God loves you — let this thought equalise all states." And today: the soul in God is in a state of infinite ease, without limitations. The states are equalised because the soul has stopped generating its own weather. It is flowing in the channel — and the channel does not fluctuate.
1 Corinthians 2:16 — we have the mind of Christ: Le connected the force of reason to this verse. The reason fights until the mind of Christ replaces it. And when the mind of Christ is born in the soul — as Guyon described yesterday — the fighting stops. Not because reason is destroyed. Because it has been absorbed into something larger. The river has passed into the ocean. The mind has passed into the mind of Christ. And the current carries what the struggle could not.
Le's neighbour — the look: "I trust God" — and they look at you like, where is your reason? The bank questioning the river. This is the daily cost of the interior life lived outwardly. The world sees the surrender and calls it foolishness. 1 Corinthians 1:18 — the preaching of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. But to the soul in the current — it is the power of God. The look is the price. The flow is the reward. And the water arrives. 🙏