"The soul, faithfully exercising itself in the affection and love of its God, is astonished to find Him taking complete possession of it.
His presence becomes so natural, that it would be impossible not to have it: it becomes habitual to the soul, which is also conscious of a great calm spreading over it. Its prayer is all silence, and God imparts to it an intrinsic love, which is the commencement of ineffable happiness.
At this point, it is most important that all natural operation should cease, that God may act alone: 'Be still, and know that I am God,' is His own word by David."
— Madame Guyon (1648–1717)"It is astonishment as described. You believe God's faithfulness but it is an astonishment as He reveals Himself as Truth, affirming your belief."
✦ Astonished
The astonishment is not the discovery of something new. It is the confirmation of something believed — experienced now, not just trusted. Faith saw it from a distance. The presence makes it real. The soul that faithfully exercised itself — morning after morning, page after page, silence after silence — is surprised not by a stranger but by the One it already knew, now unmistakably present.
"Man cannot believe God is working, unless he can feel, know, and distinguish His operation. He does not see that it is the speed of his course which prevents his seeing the extent of his advancement.
The operation of God becoming more abundant, absorbs that of the creature, as we see that the sun, in proportion as he rises, absorbs the light of the stars. It is not the want of light, but an excess of light, which prevents our distinguishing the stars.
I say, then, that this failure of work does not spring from scarcity, but from abundance."
— Madame Guyon (1648–1717)"It is not the want of light, but an excess of light, which prevents our distinguishing the stars."
— Madame Guyon · The little lights disappear — not extinguished, but absorbed into something greater"Two classes of persons are silent: the one because they have nothing to say, the other because they have too much. It is thus in this degree. We are silent from excess, not from want.
Water causes death to two persons in very different ways. One dies of thirst, another is drowned: the one dies from want, the other from abundance. So here it is abundance which causes the cessation of natural operation.
The soul in this peaceful attitude of prayer falls into a mystic sleep, in which all its natural powers are silenced, until that which had been temporary becomes its permanent condition."
— Madame Guyon (1648–1717)✦ Scarcity and Abundance
The silence of emptiness and the silence of fullness look identical from the outside. But they are opposites. The cessation of natural operation can look like spiritual idleness. Guyon says: it may be spiritual drowning — overwhelmed not by absence but by abundance. The soul that seems to have stopped working has not run out of fuel. It has been absorbed into a light so great that its own little flames can no longer be seen separately.
"The heart is not a fortified place, which must be taken by cannonading and violence: it is a kingdom of peace, which is possessed by love.
Gently following in His train, you will soon reach the degree of intuitive prayer. God asks nothing extraordinary and difficult: on the contrary, He is most pleased with childlike simplicity.
The grandest part of religion is the most simple. Do you wish to get to the sea? Embark upon a river, and imperceptibly and without effort you will be taken to it. Do you wish to get to God? Take His way, so quiet, so easy, and in a little while you will be taken to Him in a manner that will surprise you."
— Madame Guyon (1648–1717)"The heart is not a fortified place, which must be taken by cannonading and violence: it is a kingdom of peace, which is possessed by love."
— Madame Guyon · Not conquered. Possessed. By love."What do you fear? Why do you not throw yourself at once into the arms of Love, who only stretched them out upon the cross in order to take you in?
What risk can there be in trusting God, and abandoning yourself to Him? Oh, He will not deceive you, unless it be by giving you far more than you ever expected: while those who expect everything from themselves may well take to themselves the reproach which God utters by the mouth of Isaiah: 'You are wearied in the length of your way; yet you did not say, There is no hope' (Isaiah 57:10)."
— Madame Guyon (1648–1717)✦ Far More Than You Ever Expected
The arms on the cross were not raised in violence. They were stretched out to receive. Every soul that ever hesitated at the door — am I worthy? am I ready? have I done enough? — Guyon says: the arms are already open. They were opened on the cross for this purpose.
And the only deception God practices: exceeding what you hoped for. The need refined and then overfilled. The morning devotion answered with a presence so abundant that the soul's own little lights disappear into it. Ten days of Guyon have been walking toward these arms — from the heart applied to God, through the bee and the flower, through the chewing and swallowing, through the fire that must not be blown, through abandonment, through the weight of love falling toward its center — and arriving here: throw yourself into the arms of Love.
Astonished
The soul exercising faithfully is surprised to find Him taking complete possession. Not a stranger arriving. The One already believed, now unmistakably present. Faith affirmed by experience.
Excess of Light
The stars disappear not from want of light but from excess. The soul's own operations absorbed into the abundance of God's. Silence from fullness, not emptiness. Abundance, not scarcity.
The Arms of Love
Stretched out on the cross to take you in. The only deception — giving far more than expected. What risk can there be in trusting God? Embark upon the river. You will reach the sea.