John of the Cross
You shall take nothing from me, my God, of what you have already given me in your only begotten Son Jesus Christ. In him you have given me all that I long for. Therefore, I will rejoice as I wait for you and you come.
Yet – why wait hesitantly, when I can love God in the place of my heart?
Heaven is mine and earth is mine, the people are mine, the good are mine and the wicked are mine, the angels are mine, my is the Mother of God, everything here is mine; yes, God himself is mine and lives for me, for Christ is mine and is here entirely for me. So – what do you want, what are you still searching for, my soul? Everything is yours and all is for you.
Do not think that you are so insignificant, and do not live on the crumbs that fall from your Father's table.
Straighten up and be magnificent in your magnificence, live in it and rejoice in it –
and the desires of your heart will be fulfilled.
(from: "Prayers of the Beloved," Karmelimpulse, 4, IV, 4, 1994)
Translated by Dr. Vojtěch Pola.
