The Sermon on the Mount (Bossuet)/Day 21
Twenty-first Day
Prayer, and the presence of God in secret. — Matt, vi. 5-8.
ENTER into thy chamber’ — that is, into the very innermost part of your house; but also into the innermost part of your heart. Be perfectly collected. ' Shut the door upon you ’ — that is, close up the avenues of sense, and give access to no irrelevant thought. i Pray in secret ’ — that is, pour out your soul before God alone; make Him only the depositary of your hidden griefs.
‘Speak not much.’ This pouring forth does not imply telling God your secret needs by means of long speeches. ' He knows all before you ask Him.’ Say inwardly whatever may be of use by helping to move you and to fix your thoughts on God. The prayers of the Pagans, who knew not God, were nothing but a superfluity of unmeaning words. Speak little with the lips and much with the heart. Neither should you multiply even your thoughts, for this is the way to become absent or distracted. Fix your mind on some important truth which may have specially laid hold of your intellect and heart. Consider — weigh — enjoy — reflect — rejoice. You must not, if I may say so, swallow down every morsel directly; it is not well to be constantly passing from one thought or one truth to another. Lay hold of one thing: grasp it till you have assimilated it; fasten your heart rather than your intellect upon it; crush out from it, so to speak, all its sap, by dint of bringing the full pressure of your attention to bear upon it.
‘ God sees you in secret.’ Think how He sees you through and through, infinitely more clearly than you see yourself. Make a simple and lively act of faith in His presence. Place yourself wholly, O Christian soul, beneath His gaze. He is present within you, for He gives existence and movement to all things. But do not stop short at this presence itself, which is equally true of all creatures, animate and inanimate. Believe, with active faith, that God is present with you inwardly, as giving you all good thoughts and as holding in His hand the very source whence these flow; and not merely good thoughts, but good desires, good resolutions, and all kinds of good intentions, from the first moment of their birth up to their final perfection. See Him again, as present in all the just, making His dwelling with them, according to our Lord’s word: ‘ We will come to him and make our abode with him.’ He is within them in a firm and enduring form, living established there. Wish that He may be with you in this manner; offer Him your whole interior being, that He may dwell there and make it into His own temple.
Sometimes, again, go forth from yourself, and, with the same faith that shows Him present in your own soul, behold Him in Heaven, where He manifests Himself to His beloved ones. There it is that He expects you. Run — fly — tear your bonds asunder — break away from all attachments that bind you to flesh and blood! Oh, my God, when shall I see Thee? When shall I have that ‘clean heart’ that makes one ‘see God ’ within oneself, outside oneself — everywhere? O light that enlightenest all things!
O life that makest all things to live! O truth on which all may feed! O good that satisfiest all! O love that unitest all things in one! I praise thee, O my heavenly Father, Who seest me in secret.