Page:Alchemyofhappiness en.djvu/121

Rh  What shall I do with that life which is not passed in remembrance of thee? What shall I do with the eye that is not sad with longing after thee? What shall I do with the heart that is not the home of thy love? What shall I do with the soul that does not make itself a sacrifice in thy Way?

O inquirer after the love of God ! The love of God exists in every heart, though it lies concealed, just as fire exists in the flint stone, until it is drawn out. If you take the steel of desire and affection into your hands, and with it strike the heart, you obtain fire by the means, and your soul will be filled with light. The malice, deceitfulness, hatred, vileness, envy and strife that are in the heart will be burned up, and it will be freed and purified from sensual perturbations. But if you are careless and do nothing and pass several days without seeking, the heart will again become like fire covered over with ashes, which by remaining a long time unused, will finally be extinguished. So at last the heart, becomes encased with sensual impurities and with the blackness of the passions, and is no longer capable of being enlightened with the light of truth. Our refuge is in God!

O, faithful friend, who art worthy to be loved! know, that the love of God is a standard that leads to victory. Whoever seeks refuge under it, will be a sovereign in two worlds, and lord of a throne at the king's court. This love is a universal solvent to secure happiness. Whoever secures it, is richer than in the possession of both worlds. God is always rich, notwithstanding all the world is provided for through him. The heart which bears no traces of the love of God, is like a dead corpse, which knows nothing of its own spirit. Still there is no person among reasonable beings who will say that he does not love God, or who will not make pretensions to possessing a love for him. But it is like an empty claim, upon which no decision can be based and, unless the witness is a faithful one,