A Poem by Mechthild of Magdeburg - Living the Meditative Life
The desert has many teachings
In the desert,
Turn toward emptiness,
Fleeing the self.
Stand alone,
Ask no one’s help,
And your being will quiet,
Free from the bondage of things.
Those who cling to the world,
Endeavor to free them;
Those who are free, praise.
Care for the sick,
But live alone,
Happy to drink from the waters of sorrow,
To kindle Love’s fire
With the twigs of a simple life.
Thus you will live in the desert
By: Mechthild of Magdeburg
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IT is a sign that the soul is living in God,
if it maintain calmness within through the
consciousness of His Presence,
while working for Him in active ministrations.
Such restfulness will show itself in the commonest ways,
in doing common duties at the right time,
in preserving a sweetness and evenness of temper
in the midst of ordinary interruptions and disturbances,
in walking to and fro quietly on the day's
varied errands, in speaking gentle words,
in sweetly meeting unexpected calls. A calm, rest
ful temper grows as self is learning to lose itself
in God. Such grace tells gradually on the dailv life;
even the minutest detail may be brought
under the power of God, and carried out
in union with Him.
T. T. Carter Retire inwardly; wait to feel somewhat of God's Spirit,
discovering and drawing away from that which is
contrary to His holy nature, and leading
into that which is acceptable to Him.
As the mind is joined to this, some
true light and life is received.
Isaac Penington
Possess yourself as much as you possibly can in peace;
not by any effort, but by letting all things fall
to the ground which trouble or excite you.
This is no work, but is, as it were,
a setting down a fluid to settle that
has become turbid through agitation.
Madame Guyon
I want a sober mind,
A self-renouncing will,
That tramples down and casts behind
The baits of pleasing ill;
A spirit still prepared,
And armed with jealous care,
Forever standing on its guard,
And watching unto prayer.
Charles Wesley
Accustom yourself to unreasonableness and injustice.
Abide in peace in the Presence of God, Who sees
all these evils more clearly than you do,
and who permits them.
Be content with doing with calmness the little
which depends upon yourself,
and let all else be to you as if it were not.
Francois Fenelon
St. James saith, "Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." . . . . . .
St. James having shown us, that resisting the devil is the only way to make him flee from us, that is, to lose his power in us, immediately adds "Draw near," says he, "to God, and God will draw near to you." . . . .
Resist not God, that is, let his holy will within you have its full work; keep wholly, obediently attentive to that, which he is and has, and does within you, and then God will draw near to you, that is, will more and more manifest the power of his holy presence in you, and make you more and more partakers of the divine nature.
"Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. . . . " James 4:7-8 (KJV)
Roland's comment
It is clear that we are to be "in the world but not of the world." This is the secret to the meditative life. To be out and about our business, yet our soul is somewhat detached and ever at the ready to be aware of delicate promptings of the Spirit within.
We flee the bondage of things by turning inward to God. We draw nearer to God and thereby are a bit distant to the world.
