God is Sweet Above All Things and in All Things to Those Who Love Him
The Disciple
BEHOLD, my God and my all! What more do I wish for; what greater happiness can I desire? O
sweet and delicious word! But sweet only to him who loves it, and not to the world or the things
that are in the world.
My God and my all! These words are enough for him who understands, and for him who loves
it is a joy to repeat them often. For when You are present, all things are delightful; when You are
absent, all things become loathsome. It is You Who give a heart tranquillity, great peace and festive
joy. It is You Who make us think well of all things, and praise You in all things. Without You
nothing can give pleasure for very long, for if it is to be pleasing and tasteful, Your grace and the
seasoning of Your wisdom must be in it. What is there that can displease him whose happiness is
in You? And, on the contrary, what can satisfy him whose delight is not in You?
The wise men of the world, the men who lust for the flesh, are wanting in Your wisdom, because
in the world is found the utmost vanity, and in the flesh is death. But they who follow You by
disdaining worldly things and mortifying the flesh are known to be truly wise, for they are transported
from vanity to truth, from flesh to spirit. By such as these God is relished, and whatever good is
found in creatures they turn to praise of the Creator. But great—yes, very great, indeed—is the
difference between delight in the Creator and in the creature, in eternity and in time, in Light
uncreated and in the light that is reflected.
O Light eternal, surpassing all created brightness, flash forth the lightning from above and
enlighten the inmost recesses of my heart. Cleanse, cheer, enlighten, and vivify my spirit with all
its powers, that it may cleave to You in ecstasies of joy. Oh, when will that happy and wished-for
hour come, that You may fill me with Your presence and become all in all to me? So long as this
is not given me, my joy will not be complete.
The old man, alas, yet lives within me. He has not yet been entirely crucified; he is not yet
entirely dead. He still lusts strongly against the spirit, and he will not leave the kingdom of my soul
in peace. But You, Who can command the power of the sea and calm the tumult of its waves, arise
and help me. Scatter the nations that delight in war; crush them in Your sight. Show forth I beg,
Your wonderful works and let Your right hand be glorified, because for me there is no other hope
or refuge except in You, O Lord, my God.