Chapter 72

But now behoveth me to tell in what manner I saw sin deadly in the creatures which shall not die for sin, but live in the joy of God without end.

But now I must tell how I saw deadly sin in creatures who will not die because of sin. Instead, they will live in the joy of God forever.

I saw that two contrary things should never be together in one place. The most contrary that are, is the highest bliss and the deepest pain. The highest bliss that is, is to have Him in clarity of endless life, Him verily seeing, Him sweetly feeling, all-perfectly having in fulness of joy. And thus was the Blissful Cheer of our Lord shewed in Pity:¹ in which Shewing I saw that sin is most contrary,—so far forth that as long as we be meddling with any part of sin, we shall never see clearly the Blissful Cheer of our Lord. And the more horrible and grievous that our sins be, the deeper are we for that time from this blissful sight. And therefore it seemeth to us oftentimes as we were in peril of death, in a part of hell, for the sorrow and pain that the sin is to us. And thus we are dead for the time from the very sight of our blissful life. But in all this I saw soothfastly that we be not dead in the sight of God, nor He passeth never from us. But He shall never have His full bliss in us till we have our full bliss in Him, verily seeing His fair Blissful Cheer. For we are ordained thereto in nature, and get thereto by grace. Thus I saw how sin is deadly for a short time in the blessed creatures of endless life.

I saw that two things opposed to each other could never be together in one place. The most opposed things are the highest bliss and the deepest pain. The highest bliss is to have him in the clear light of endless life. It is to see him truly, feel him sweetly, and possess him completely in the fullness of joy. And so the blissful face of our Lord was shown in pity.¹ In this vision, I saw that sin is utterly opposed to this bliss. As long as we are involved in any sin, we shall never see our Lord’s blissful face clearly. And the more horrible and grievous our sins are, the farther we are from this blissful sight at that time. Because of the sorrow and pain that sin causes us, we often feel as if we were in danger of death, in a part of hell. And so, for that time, we are dead to the true sight of our blissful life. But through all this, I saw truly that we are not dead in God’s sight, and he never leaves us. But he will never have his full bliss in us until we have our full bliss in him, truly seeing his beautiful, blissful face. For we are destined for this by nature, and we reach it through grace. Thus I saw how sin brings death for a short time to the blessed creatures of endless life.

And ever the more clearly that the soul seeth this Blissful Cheer by grace of loving, the more it longeth to see it in fulness. For notwithstanding that our Lord God dwelleth in us and is here with us, and albeit He claspeth us and encloseth² us for tender love that He may never leave³ us, and is more near to us than tongue can tell or heart can think, yet may we never stint of moaning nor of weeping nor of longing till when we see Him clearly in His Blissful Countenance. For in that precious blissful sight there may no woe abide, nor any weal fail.⁴

The more clearly the soul sees this blissful face through the grace of love, the more it longs to see it fully. Our Lord God dwells in us and is here with us. He holds us close and enfolds² us with such tender love that he can never leave³ us. He is closer to us than words can say or the heart can imagine. Yet we can never stop grieving, weeping, and longing until we see him clearly in his blissful countenance. For in that precious, blissful sight, no sorrow can remain, and no joy can be lacking.⁴

And in this I saw matter of mirth and matter of moaning: matter of mirth: for our Lord, our Maker, is so near to us, and in us, and we in Him, by sureness of keeping through His great goodness; matter of moaning: for our ghostly eye is so blind and we be so borne down by weight of our mortal flesh and darkness of sin, that we may not see our Lord God clearly in His fair Blissful Cheer. No; and because of this dimness⁵ scarsely we can believe and trust His great love and our sureness⁶ of keeping. And therefore it is that I say we may never stint of moaning nor of weeping. This "weeping" meaneth not all in pouring out of tears by our bodily eye, but also hath more ghostly understanding. For the kindly desire of our soul is so great and so unmeasurable, that if there were given us for our solace and for our comfort all the noble things that ever God made in heaven and in earth, and we saw not the fair Blissful Cheer⁷ of Himself, yet we should not stint of moaning nor ghostly weeping, that is to say, of painful longing, till when we [should] see verily the fair Blissful Cheer of our Maker. And if we were in all the pain that heart can think and tongue may tell, if we might in that time see His fair Blissful Cheer, all this pain should not aggrieve us.

In this I saw reason for joy and reason for sorrow. There is reason for joy because our Lord, our Maker, is so near us. He is in us, and we are in him, kept safe by his great goodness. There is reason for sorrow because our spiritual sight is so blind. We are weighed down by our mortal flesh and the darkness of sin. So we cannot see the fair, blissful face of our Lord God clearly. Indeed, because of this dimness⁵, we can hardly believe and trust in his great love and our safety⁶ in his keeping. That is why I say we can never stop sorrowing or weeping. This "weeping" does not mean only shedding tears from our bodily eyes. It also has a deeper spiritual meaning. Our soul's natural desire is so great and so boundless that nothing else can satisfy it. Suppose all the noble things God ever made in heaven and earth were given to us for solace and comfort. If we did not see his own fair, blissful face⁷, we still would not stop sorrowing or weeping spiritually. That is, we would not stop longing painfully until we truly saw the fair, blissful face of our Maker. And suppose we were in all the pain that the heart can imagine and the tongue can describe. If we could see his fair, blissful face at that time, all that pain would not distress us.

Thus is that Blissful Sight [the] end of all manner of pain to the loving soul, and the fulfilling of all manner of joy and bliss. And that shewed He in the high, marvellous words where He said: I it am that is highest; I it am that is lowest; I it am that is all.

Thus, that blissful sight ends all pain for the loving soul and brings complete joy and bliss. He showed this in his sublime and wonderful words: I am the highest; I am the lowest; I am all.

It belongeth to us to have three manner of knowings: the first is that we know our Lord God; the second is that we know our self: what we are by Him, in Nature and Grace; the third is that we know meekly what our self is anent our sin and feebleness. And for these three was all the Shewing made, as to mine understanding.

We need three kinds of knowledge. First, we must know our Lord God. Second, we must know ourselves and what we are through him, in nature and grace. Third, we must humbly know ourselves in our sin and weakness. As I understand it, all of the revelation was given for these three kinds of knowledge.