A Soul in Divine Union

A Soul in Divine Union

The man who moves unshaken in the sphere and path which God has marked out for him, unelated by joy, undepressed by sorrow, unallured by temptation, unterrified by adversities, this man bears always the calm of Jesus Christ and is truly God-like.

The soul in union rests from all desires that do not harmonize with the will of God. There are two classes of desires—those that spring from an unsanctified nature and those which are from God. Agitation and sorrow attend the one and true peace the other. In God is the fulfillment of our desires.

The soul united to God is necessarily united with Him in all the movements and actions. He rests from the perplexities of making this or that decision by accepting the choice his Father makes for him in all circumstances. The renewed soul rests from vain and wandering imaginations, and from a Godless discontent, scenes and situations. He rests from feelings of envy which suppose the existence of superiority in others, in position or anything else. He rests from easily offended feelings.

The soul in union rests from labour. The term labour implies effort. There is life and activity in heaven, but not labour—which involves pain and effort. The soul renovated does not cease to be active, for he finds and knows no idle moments; but the work which he does ceases to possess the ordinary attributes of labour, because -

The labour of the partially sanctified man who stirs himself to action by reasonings, reflections, and the forced effort of the will is not the recreation and happiness of the soul in union. The latter person works without knowing that he works. Love converts what would otherwise be work into the spontaneous activity of the life within him. In doing what he loves to do, he labours just as much as the birds do when they fly and sing. In saying, therefore, that the renewed soul rests from labour we do not mean that he rests from action, but the action is so easy, so harmonious with the desires of the soul, so in accord with the arrangements of Providence, that there is no pain or distaste in labour. The divine life acts by innate disposition; it merely needs opportunities of action and not instigation to action.