by Jean-Pierre de Caussade

Abandonment involves the most heroic generosity. There is nothing more generous than a soul which, afire with faith, sees only the working of God in all troubles and the most deadly dangers.

It may be a matter of drinking poison (Mira), marching into the breach (Gandhi), or working like a slave for the plague-stricken. In all such things the soul finds the fullness of divine life, not offered drop by drop, but engulfing it instantly. An army of soldiers with such a spirit would be invincible. For faith lifts and expands the heart above and beyond all that the senses fear. The life of faith and the instinct of faith are one and the same thing.

It is delight in the friendship of God and confidence in his protection which makes everything acceptable and receivable with good grace. Faith also produces a certain detachment of soul which enables us to handle any situation and every kind of person. With faith we are never unhappy and never weak. The soul, with its living faith in God, always sees him acting behind happenings which bewilder our senses. Stricken with terror, our senses suddenly cry to the soul: "Unhappy wretch, now you are lost and there's no hope of rescue!"

The robust voice of faith instantly replies: "Hold fast, go forward and fear nothing."

When our hearts are truly abandoned, we embrace every possible kind of spirituality, for our whole being gives itself up to God's will. And this act of surrender, prompted by pure love, means that we involve ourselves in all that pleases Him. There is not a moment when we are not abandoned without the slightest reservation, and so, inevitably, the nature of this abandonment comprises every variety of spiritual life.

So it is no business of ours to decide what our submission to God will bring to us. All we must do is submit to everything and be ready for every possibility. In this free offering of the soul to God, He demands three things: renunciation, obedience and love. Everything else is His affair. If we carefully fulfill the duties imposed on us by our state of life, if we quietly follow any impulse coming from God, if we peacefully submit to the influence of grace, we are making an act of total abandonment. It is one that is not limited in any way, but has all the value and the effectiveness which sincere good will always has, even though what it seeks to do is beyond its control. What we have wanted to do is done in the sight of God.

It may please God to limit the exercise of our various talents, but He never puts any check on the exercise of our will. God's purpose, His being, and His essence are the objects of our will and love, and, because of this, He ensures that our union with Him is full and complete. From time to time our love may direct our faculties to particular and immediate ends. That is because God's will is concerned with those same ends and He limits its operation, as it were, to the demands of the present moment; but as He animates our faculties He enters our hearts. When He finds them pure and free of all reserve, He fills them with Himself, for, being emptied of all things, our hearts have an infinite capacity and so are able to receive Him.

"O holy detachment! It is you who makes room for God! O Purity! O complete surrender! It is you who draw God into my heart! I care nothing about my capabilities and talents. You, Lord, are all I want or need. Use this little creature as you wish. All is yours, all is from you and all is for you. I have no longer anything to look after or to do. Not a single moment is controlled by me, for everything is yours. I have not to try to add anything to my stature or take anything away; nor have I to inquire into or reflect upon anything. It is for you to deal with everything. Holiness, perfection, salvation, spiritual direction, penance -- these are all your business. Mine is to be content with you and not adopt any line of action or involve myself in any attachment, but to leave all to your good pleasure."

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The Path of Freedom, Spirituality, Joy or Eternal Love is only for the brave and for those who are ready to die for their singular ideal: Love. Passions, lust and greed make a person weak, cowardly and a slave to his/her desires. Such a person is unfit even in the worldly intercourse not to speak of in spirituality. Lord Krishna admonishes Arjuna for his cowardly behavior and commands him to get up and fight against these weaknesses. Incidentally, these were the Lord's first significant words in Gitaji:

"Whence has this unmanly (cowardly) shameful dejection come upon you at this critical moment? Do not yield to feebleness. Abandon this petty faint-heartedness. Wake up (Gita 2:2-3)."

-- Swami Radhanandaji