A collection of miscellanies consisting of poems, essays, discourses, and letters occasionally written / by John Norris ...

Contemplation the Fifth.

Two Corollaries hence deduc'd: the first whereof is, that God is therefore to be loved with all possible application and ele∣vation of Spirit, with all the heart, soul and mind.

1. AMong the Perfections of human nature the faculty of desiring or reaching out after agreeable Objects is not the least consider∣able, and 'tis the peculiar glory of man to be an Amorous, as well as a Rational Being. For by this he supplies the defects of his nature, not only enjoys the good he unites with, but digests it as it were into himself and makes it his own, and relieves his domestic poverty by forreign ne∣gotiation.

2. But tho the Pathetic part of man be one of the noblest perfections he is furnish'd with, yet so generally faulty are we in the due appli∣cation and direction of this noble faculty, that to be pathetically and amorously dispos'd is lookt upon by some not as a Perfection but as a Disease of the Soul, and is condemn'd by a whole order of men as inconsistent with the Character of wisdom, according to that Stoical Apho∣rism, Amare simul & sapere ipsi Jovi non datur.

3. But certainly, Eve was intended as a Help for Adam, tho in the event she prov'd the in∣strument

of his seduction; and our Passions were given us to perfect and accomplish our natures, tho by accidental misapplications to unworthy objects they may turn to our degradation and dishonour. We may indeed be debased as well as innobled by them, but then the fault is not in the large Sails, but in the ill conduct of the Pilot, if our Vessel miss the Haven. The Tide of our love can never run too high, provided it take a right Channel; our Passion then will be our highest Wisdom: and he was no Stoic that said, as the Hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my Soul after thee O God. And again, my Soul is athirst for God. And a∣gain, my Soul breaketh out for fervent de∣sire. And again, whom have I in Hea∣ven but thee, and there is none upon earth that I desire in comparison of thee.

4. Being therefore from the foregoing Pe∣riods arrived to this Conclusion, that God is the true End and Center of man, I think I ought now to let loose the reins of my affections, to unbay the current of my Passion, and love on without any other boundary or measure than what is set me by the finiteness of my natural powers.

5. 'Tis true indeed, whenever we turn the Edge of our desire towards any Created good, 'tis Prudence as well as Religion to use caution and moderation, to gage the Point of our affe∣ctions lest it run in too far; there being so much

emptiness in the enjoyment, and so much hazard in the Possession. When we venture to lean up∣on such objects we are like men that walk upon a Quagmire, and therefore should tread as light∣ly as we can, lest it give way and sink under us.

6. But how excellent a Vertue soever Mode∣ration may be in our concernments with other objects, we have nothing to do with it in the love of that Being who is our End and Center. There is here danger but of one Extreme, and that is of the defect. We can love but finitely when we have lov'd our utmost; and what is that to him who is infinitely lovely? Since there∣fore our most liberal proportions will be infi∣nitely short and scanty, we ought not sure to give new retrenchments to our love, and cut it yet shorter by frugal limitations.

7. For if God be our End and Center he must necessarily have all that good in him which we can possibly desire; and if so, then he is able to stay and satisfy all our Love; and if so, then nothing so reasonable as that he should have it all. We are therefore to love him with all pos∣sible application and elevation of Spirit, with all the heart, Soul and mind. We should collect and concenter all the rays of our love into this one Point, and lean towards God with the whole weight of our Soul, as all that is ponder∣ous in nature tends with its whole weight toward the Center. And this we should do as directly as may be, with as little warping and declension

the Creature as is possible. For so also 'tis to be observ'd in nature, that not only all weight or Pondus tends toward the Center, but that also it moves thither as nigh as it can in a direct and perpendicular line.

The Prayer.

MY God, my Happiness, who art fairer than the Children of men, and who thy self art very Love as well as altogether lovely, draw me and I will run after thee. O wind up my Soul to the highest pitch of Love that my facultys will bear, and let me never alienate any degree of that noble Passion from thee its only due ob∣ject. Quench in me all terrene fires and sensual relishes, and do thou wound me deep, and strike me through with the arrows of a divine Passion, that as thou art all Beauty and Perfection, so I may be all Love and Devotion. My heart is rea∣dy O God, my heart is ready for a Burnt offer∣ing; send down then an holy fire from above to kindle the Sacrifice, and do thou continual∣ly fan and keep alive, and clarify the flame, that I may be ever ascending up to thee in de∣vout breathings, and pious Aspirations, till at length I ascend in Spirit to the Element of Love, where I shall know thee more clearly

and love thee more Seraphically, and receive those peculiar coronets of glory thou hast re∣serv'd for those that eminently love thee,

Amen.

Notes

• Psal. 42.
• Psal. 119. Psal. 73. 24.