— A Treatise on Divine Union (1851) Part 4, Chapter 7.
A blog drawn from the writings of Thomas Cogswell Upham (1799-1872).
The life of those who dwell in the secret place of the Most High may be called a Hidden Life, because the animating principle, the vital or operative element, is not so much in itself as in another. It is a life grafted into another life. It is the life of the soul, incorporated into the life of Christ; and in such a way, that, while it has a distinct vitality, it has so very much in the sense, in which the branch of a tree may be said to have a distinct vitality from the root.
Wednesday, August 6, 2014
Coming Down from the Mountain
The principle of holy sympathy is very important, considered as constituting a medium of communication and a bond of union between hearts which have experienced the highest degrees of love, and those which are only partly sanctified. In a holy heart, to a considerable extent at least, faith takes the place of desire; and consequently, as a general thing, praise will predominate over supplication. A holy heart is a heart jubilant; a heart "always rejoicing." But when the holy person comes into the company of those who are in a lower degree of experience, — who have much darkness mingled with their light, and much sorrow mingled with their joy, — the principle of holy sympathy alters his position, and leads him to unite his supplications with theirs. He goes down from "the mount of transfiguration" into the deep and dark valley; and, under the impulse of love, which is now changed into sympathy, he seeks, with wrestling and tears, to deliver his brethren.
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