It is not astonishing that men do so little for God and that the little which they do costs them so much. They do not know Him.
Their only idea of Him is of something far off and unconnected. They think of Him as a stern and powerful Being, ever making requisitions upon us, threatening us with great evils.
It was easy to go to Him when I had nothing to give. 🙏
Fénelon describes people who see God as stern — always demanding. Le's testimony is the perfect contradiction: the easiest time to approach God was when there was nothing to bring. No merit. No offering. Just need. The 500 denari soul — empty-handed at midnight. The stern God would have turned her away. The God who is love received her precisely because she came with nothing.
Such a one fears only, but does not love; as the child is in awe of the master who punishes him.
Would he like to be treated by a son or servant as he treats God?
It is because God is not known; if He were known, He would be loved.
God is love; he who loves Him not, does not know Him, for how could we know love without loving it?
If God IS love — then to know Him is to love Him. To only fear Him is to not know Him at all. Le's journey from threats to devotion: the fear stage was the stage of not knowing God. The love stage was the meeting. And Fénelon's devastating question: would you like to be treated by your own child the way you treat God? Served from fear. Obeyed from dread. No love. The question needs no answer.
Who shall know You, O my God? He who shall seek with his whole heart.
The world cannot receive this because it is full of self, and vanity, and lies, and is empty of God; but I trust there will always be souls hungering for God.
✦ Souls Hungering for God
Fénelon trusts there will always be souls hungering for God. Smith said the same: none but God can produce this hunger, and only God can satisfy it. The world is full of self and empty of God. But the hungering souls — they are the ones who will know Him. 🙏
O my God! before You made the Heavens and the earth, there was none other but You. You were all sufficient. You created all the materials for Your work. You only spoke and it was done.
But why did You create all these things?
They were all made for man and man was made for You. This is the order of Your appointment, and woe to him who inverts it and shuts himself in self! He breaks the fundamental law of creation.
The question of all questions: But why did You create all these things? 🙏
Fénelon answers the question that orders everything: all things were made for man, and man was made for God. Creation → man → God. The inversion — creation → self → nothing — breaks the fundamental law. Scougal called it the natural life: self at the center. Fénelon calls it the breaking of creation's order. Same truth. French accent.
And Le — who came to God with nothing to give — did not break the order. She fulfilled it. She came empty. God filled her. She was made for Him. And the mornings are the daily restoration of the order that was always meant to be. 🙏
"It was easy to go to Him when I had nothing to give."
Le · Caldas da Rainha · July 5, 2026 · The emptiness was the qualificationFear Without Love
Those who only fear God do not know Him. God is love — how could we know love without loving it? The fear stage was not knowing. The love stage was the meeting.
Nothing to Give
It was easy to go when I had nothing. The stern God would have turned her away. The God who is love received her because she came with nothing.
The Question of All Questions
Why did You create all these things? All made for man. Man made for God. Woe to him who inverts it and shuts himself in self.
Souls Hungering for God
The world is full of self and empty of God. But there will always be souls hungering for God. The journal is the record of one such soul.