Rest from longing and desire
O thou weary heart!
Dost thou ween thy choice has been
Not the lower but the higher,
Thine the better part?
And therefore dost thou long with bitter longing
From the day dawn to the night.
For the holiness, the rest of His beloved
Who walk with Him in white?
Thou art wearied with the striving and the yearning
For the crown that thou wouldst win;
Thou hast learnt but thine immensity of weakness,
But the mystery of thy sin.
Beloved, the Lord spake to me in comfort
When thus it was with me—
“Wert thou cast all alone upon thy mantle,
All alone upon the sea—
Nought round thee but immensity of waters,
No strength in thee to swim,
How, seeing only God in Heaven above thee,
Wouldst thou cast thyself on Him?”
Therefore thank Him for thy helplessness, beloved,
And if thou needs must long,
Let it be but for the rest of utter weakness,
In the Arms forever strong.
Long only that He make thee bare and empty—
Take all that is thine own,
Thy prowess, and thy strength, and thine endeavour,
And leave thee God alone.
In the stillness of that peace the work is ended
By Him, and not by thee;
The end of His desire and His longing
To see thee stand in stainless white before Him
Is that which needs must be.
- by Johannes Tauler, translated by Frances Bevan
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