Love and Poverty

Love has been poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit. Love is the inner, hidden life; it is shy in its innermost being; it is not puffed up. It is as if it were hidden even to the heart that possesses it; it is as the one who does not dare to step forward unless he has to act. If a soul would feel loving, he would immediately succumb to spiritual greatness. The self-life desires a love in which it can revel by feeling comfortable when it thinks about others. The greatest desire of the most loving and spiritual people is to speak about God’s love for them, thinking that they themselves are extremely poor when it comes to love. The spiritual state must not be viewed with a carnal eye. We must also be poor in spirit when it concerns love, for as soon as a person speaks about his great love, he is inclined to compare himself with others. Spiritual self-observation and riches are the most potent poison of a spiritual soul. Observing himself and glorifying himself is followed by a sense of well-being over his own state; the person rejoices over his state instead of rejoicing in God, just as he can rejoice because he is happy instead of rejoicing in God.

Poverty of spirit concerning love produces, as with all other poverty of spirit, pain and humility. This results in a continuous pressing into God for more love; but since everything we receive from God is hidden treasures in the spirit, and these treasures must not be viewed with a human feeling of well-being, we will continue to feel poor in spirit even until our poverty has attracted the entire fullness of love—if that were possible.

Poverty of spirit has the effect that the soul feels lowly; it seems to know nothing and possess nothing even though it knows much and possesses much. This seems to contradict all human reasoning, but the Bible’s anti-logic is a never-ending, great grace; it is something of the deepest wisdom of God, for it produces God’s riches in the soul without the soul becoming great in itself as a result. These riches have the effect of producing an even greater poverty, just as poverty increases the riches. By its very own nature, God’s riches encompass a longing for more of God which He presents to the soul, and this longing is like a starving poverty. The more the soul receives from God, the poorer he will feel. Therefore we see that the greatest souls in God’s kingdom are the least and lowliest in themselves. There is such deep wisdom and grace in these things that only the outermost limits of our consciousness can come into contact with them. Only an awareness of these hidden treasures that lie here result in a tremendous poverty of spirit! And yet, when we receive light over these things, they will in their turn give new light over more advanced truths, which will again produce an intense poverty.

In this way a soul becomes rich in God. He will always be poor in his spirit, but rich in God’s Spirit. Love increases through poverty of spirit.

The Bible’s anti-logic has depths of unimagined worth.

We are poor, but at the same time we are rich; we rest and toil; we know nothing and possess great wisdom; we are quiet and yet we advance in God with unimagined haste. We lose our life, we find life; we die, and yet we live.