THE SOUL'S RAGE
The soul is furious for self-knowledge. Her face is lit
with passion, red with rage for the arrears withheld from her in God, because
she is not all God is by nature, because she has not all God has by nature.
The masters say there is no fiercer appetite than a friend's
desire to possess his friend and all that he possesses. The soul proclaims her
rage so boundless she cannot be appeased by him. The bonds of love are all too
cruel for her. Alas! she cries, who shall console me? My misery is too deep.
Were I the one creator, beginningless and endless, and had I made creatures and
were he soul like me, then I would go straight out of my estate and let her
enter in and be God while I be creature; and if it were an obstacle to God to
get his being from me, he would be welcome to efface me for I would perish
sooner than be a hindrance to him. But seeing it is common to everything created
to have somewhat of the eternal in man's nature ever present in it, therefore I
know not where to turn to find a place. So I take refuge in myself and there I
find the lowest place, aye, one more base than hell for even thence do my
shortcomings hound me. It seems I cannot then escape myself. Here I sit me down
and herein will I stay. And I beseech thee, Lord, that thou never callest me to
mind and forbiddest any creature ever to console me and deniest to my powers
that ever any one of them should come before thy face, lest I offend thee. So I
go out and let the soul go in.
The third rage of the soul is that she should be God and that
there should not be a single creature, like when God was in his eternity ere he
created creature, so that she may enjoy God-nature in its simplicity as he did
before. But then his love were lacking to him, for it is the nature of good
things to communicate themselves.
Fourthly, she rages to be absolutely nothing but the naked
essence, there being neither God nor creature. She asks, What is the good of the
three Persons in the Godhead and what is the use of creatures? But hold, she
cries, except for them there would be no creatures. That must be the reason why
there are three Persons in the Godhead: they are the cause of creatures. God is
God-exalted: the creatures he has made cannot exalt him. All that creatures do
to God is themselves: such glory as they can give to God is the same as they
are.