We must reserve the necessary time that we may see God alone in prayer. Without the greatest care, none will be left to be alone with God.
We must be firm in observing our rules. Without it everything falls into confusion; we insensibly separate from God, and only perceive we have wandered when return seems hopeless.
Prayer, prayer! This is our only safety.
To be faithful in prayer we must dispose all the employments of the day, with a regularity nothing can disturb.
The insensible separation — not dramatic departure but drifting. The fire not extinguished by an enemy but starved by neglect. The remedy: strictness. Regularity. Firmness in the rules. The mornings reserved. The time protected. Prayer, prayer! The exclamation of a man who has tried everything else and found that only this holds.
We must imitate Jesus; live as He lived, think as He thought, and be conformed to His image, which is the seal of our sanctification.
What a contrast! Nothingness strives to be something, and the Omnipotent becomes nothing!
I will be nothing with You, my Lord!
The whole gospel in one sentence: nothingness striving to be something, and the Omnipotent becoming nothing. Philippians 2:7 — He made Himself of no reputation. The creature insisting on being god. The God of heaven choosing to become clay. And Fénelon's response: I will be nothing with You. Not crushed. Choosing. Because the Omnipotent chose it first.
Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; let me behold nothing but You and myself in Your presence, that I may understand what I am and what You art.
"Remove from me occasions of my stumbling; turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; let me behold nothing but You and myself in Your presence, that I may understand what I am and what You art." 🙏
Le circled the prayer that holds everything Fénelon and Scougal have taught. Two objects of contemplation: God — and self in His light. Scougal's two kinds of humility fused into one petition. Not God alone — that would be escape. Not self alone — that would be restless humility. Both. Together. In His presence. What I am — seen clearly because of what He is. The candle next to the sun.
And this is what the mornings do. God and self. In His presence. The understanding deepening. The beloved devotional — beloved because the Beloved is at its center. 🙏
"Nothingness strives to be something, and the Omnipotent becomes nothing."
François Fénelon · The whole gospel in one contrastPrayer Is Our Only Safety
Without strictness, everything falls to confusion. The insensible separation — drifting without noticing. The remedy: regularity nothing can disturb.
The Great Contrast
Nothingness striving to be something. The Omnipotent becoming nothing. I will be nothing with You — because You were willing first.
You and Myself
Behold nothing but You and myself in Your presence. Two objects: God and self in His light. The double beholding that produces the deepest understanding.
Beloved
The journal carries its new name tonight: Leda's Beloved Devotional Journal. Beloved — because the Beloved is at its center.