LXII
WHAT MANNER OF CHILD SHALL THIS BE?
Puis
puer iste erit? Etenim manus domini erat cum illo (Luc. 166).
'What manner of child shall this be? The hand of the Lord is with him.'
The hand of the Lord means the Holy Ghost, for two reasons. First, because
work is wrought with the hand; and next, because it is one with the arm and with
the body. All human actions start in the heart, extend to the limbs, and
are done by the hand; so the seat of the soul being chiefly in the heart, in the
heart is the mainspring of her energies. Likewise it is the Father who is the
found and origin of all divine activity, and the Son is represented by his arm:
as it says in the Magnificat, 'he hath shewed strength with his
arm.' Divine power proceeds from the body via the arm to the hand, whereby
is signified the Holy Ghost, even as the soul which courses through the body and
in material things proclaims her ghostly properties. Wherefore we argue
that the Holy Ghost is meant by the hand which wrought in this child.
Now mark the state of the soul
wherein God is apt to work. He speaks of a child, suggesting pure joy, an
unblemished state. The soul God works in must be pure and clean. A
master says, 'The eternal wisdom tarries in Zion, her rest in that pure city': Zion
meaning a height and a watch-tower (or resting-place). Again, she must
be withdrawn from mortal, impermanent things. And thirdly, she must be on
the watch for coming hindrances. God comes out of kindness because of the
love he bears to the soul. He has endowed her with a godly light, the
reflection of himself, so that he may be able freely to energise in her in his
own likeness. Love cannot be without finding or making alike. Suppose I
have bidden a man, unless he have gotten some liking for me, he will never
willingly follow me. And so with the soul which follows God: God's members must
all do his bidding whether they want to or no. If they do it reluctantly,
then it is painful to him; no work is ever pleasant that is done without liking.
No creature can do more than in her
lies. The soul makes headway solely by the light that God has given her, that
being her own, presented her by God as a bridal gift. God comes in love
with intent that the soul may arise, that in love she may energise above
herself. For love cannot be without finding her like or making alike,
except in as far as God works in love passing soul. Soul does not ply the work
of grace (since that is not her nature) till she is gotten yonder, where God is
plying himself, where the work is as noble as the worker, his own nature, to
wit. As with light, for example. In word it produces its like: heat
and fire, and the harder the wind blows the fiercer the flame. Now put
love for the fire and the Holy Ghost for the wind: the stronger breathes the
Holy Ghost the more all-consuming its fire, albeit not sudden; it keeps pace
with the growth of the soul. If the whole man were consumed at once it
would not be well, for one might live a thousand years and still go on waxing in
love. Light acts upon flowers, making them grow and bear fruit; in living
creatures it makes for life; in man it makes for happiness. This comes by
the graces of God which raises the soul to a higher power; for if the soul is to
be like God she must transcend herself. Amen.