will, but to let God do in you what He wills. Let your will be always so freed from self, as to have no desire of your own; and if you have a desire concerning any thing, desire it only in such a manner as not to feel regret, if you should be thwarted in it, but that your peace of mind may remain as undisturbed as if you had entertained no wish in the matter. This is true liberty of spirit, not to bind one's self to any thing. If you yield up your soul to God in this state of detachment, unfettered and alone, you will see the wonders God will work in you. O wonderful solitude and secret chamber of the Most High, where only He will give audience, and speak to the inmost soul! O desert, thus made a Paradise, since in it alone God vouchsafes to be seen, and to be conversed with! "I will turn aside, and see this great sight." But if you would come hither, enter barefoot upon this ground, for it is holy. First, put off your shoes from your feet, that is, your affections from your soul, and leave them bare and free; carry neither purse nor scrip for this road; for you must desire nothing in this world, whatever others may seek; neither salute any one; fix all your thoughts and affections upon God alone, and not on creatures; leave the dead to bury the dead; you go your way to the land of the living, and let death have no part in you.
