Page:Spiritualcombat.djvu/296

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OF LOVE OF OUR NEIGHBOUR
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zeal and fervour for souls must not be such as to destroy your own quiet and peace. Have a burning thirst and longing that all others may know the truth which you know and understand, and be inebriated with that wine which God to each one promises and gives without price.

This thirst for the salvation of your neighbour you ought to have always; but it should take its source from your love for God, and not from your own indiscreet zeal. God must plant it in your soul, separated from all others, and must gather the fruits of it when He wills. Sow nothing of yourself alone, but offer to God the ground of your soul, pure, and cleared of every thing: for then He will sow it with His own seed as He pleases, and so shall it yield fruit. Ever remember that God wills the soul to be alone, and detached from all, that He may unite it to Himself. Only allow Him to choose you, and do not hinder Him by your free-will. Sit without a thought of yourself, save that of pleasing God, waiting to be guided to what you have to do; for the Father of the house has already gone forth, and is seeking labourers. Lose all care and thought, strip off all anxiety about yourself, and all affection for earthly things, so that God may clothe you with Himself, and give you what is beyond your power to conceive. Forget yourself entirely, as much as