Inward Recollection

I believe it is the case, that all those, who have had much experience in the principles and methods of interior living, agree in attaching a very great importance to the state of INWARD RECOLLECTION. It is certainly difficult to meet the crosses and trials of life with composure, and to sustain the soul on other occasions, in purity and peace, without the aid of inwardly recollected habits of mind. However sincere may be our desire for entire devotedness of heart, and whatever resolutions we may form with that view, we shall often find ourselves in confusion of spirit and inadvertently failing in the fulfillment of our own resolutions, without this important aid.

INWARD RECOLLECTION is that serious and collected state of mind, in which God is realized and felt as the inward and present counselor, guide, and judge of all our actions, both internal and external. In its results, when it becomes the fixed habit of the soul, it not only restores God to the inward possession and establishes Him upon the throne of the intellect and heart; but differing from that condition, in which He comes in broken and fragmentary visits, it sustains Him there essentially without interruption, in what may be termed a continuance or perpetuity of presence. In a word, it is the devoutly and practically realized presence of God in the soul, moment by moment.

This is the state of mind, which, we cannot hesitate in saying, all Christians ought to be in. It is hardly necessary to say, that it is a scriptural state of mind. It is obviously implied and taught in those numerous passages of Scripture, which inculcate the duty of watchfulness, which speak of setting the Lord always before us, of walking with God, and of our inability to do any thing without him.

And it is not more agreeable to God's Word, than it is suited to man's condition; not more scriptural, than it is necessary. We need it in order to know what to do. We need it in order to do what is proper and necessary to be done, in a just, Christian, and holy manner. We need it in all times and places, and in small things as well as great; since there are no times and places, from which God ought to be excluded; and nothing is so small, that it may not have great and important relations.

It will be objected perhaps, that the state of Inward Recollection, considered as a state of long continuance and still more as perpetual, is an impracticable one. Whatever it may be to others, (and undoubtedly it is a state of mind, which is never experienced either in the absence of religion or in a low state of religion,) it is certainly not impracticable to a person of a truly devout spirit. But how can it be possible, says the objector, inasmuch as the religious life is made up, in a great degree, of specific religious duties, that a person can give the attention of his mind to those duties, and be occupied with the distinct idea of God at the same time? The difficulty, which is implied in this objection, whatever may be its reality or its extent, is met and obviated, at least for all practical purposes, by an acknowledged law of our mental nature. We refer to the principle or law of Habit. By means of this law the rapidity of the mental action may be increased to a degree, almost inconceivable; so much so that actions, which are distinct in time, will appear to be simultaneous; and objects, which are separately attended to, will appear to be embraced in one mental view. And so far as all practical purposes are concerned, the acts of the mind, which thus separately and successively take place, may be truly regarded as one act. And applying this law to the state of inward recollection, we may easily see, how the mind may be occupied with a specific duty and may at the same time be percipient of the divine presence, and may also connect the two together and impart to them a character of unity, so that the duty may properly be said to be done in a religiously recollected state. The movement of the mind in relation to the duty, and then in relation to God as cognizant of the duty, and the transition from one to the other, are all so exceedingly rapid, that memory does not ordinarily separate and recognize them as distinct acts; and thus in our apprehension and consciousness of them, they are blended together as one.

God, therefore, in our mental contemplation of him, may be made present to all our specific duties; and thus the essential condition is fulfilled, which enables the mind to exist in the state of inward recollection. It is our privilege, therefore, a privilege too often undervalued and neglected, to do every thing which Christian duty requires, as in the divine presence, IN God and FOR God.

— edited from The Interior or Hidden Life (2nd Edition 1844) Part 3, Chapter 7.

Constancy

"Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand, therefore, with your loins girt about with truth, and having on fhe breast-plate of righteousness."  Ephes. vi. 18, 14.

Bought by Christ's blood, and to the purchase true,
The Christian runs with cheerfulness the race,
Which God in wisdom hath seen fit to trace,
Nor turns some other object to pursue,
Nor slacks his steadfast course. Sometimes he sees
Fires in his path, or hears the serpent's breath,
Or raging men with implements of death,
But still goes on; nor like the coward flees.
The road is strait and narrow; if he turns,
Ruin awaits him; if he onward goes,
With face erect and heart with love that burns,
However great the obstacles, he knows,
That God, who hath all power, all things can do,
Will guard him in his straits, and bear him glorious through.

— American Cottage Life (1850) XXXVIII.

The Mystery of the New Birth

"Marvel not, that I said unto thee, ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the  sound thereof, but canst not tell, whence it cometh and whither it goeth. So is every one, that is born of the Spirit."  John iii. 7, 8.

I hear the mountain wind, but see it not;
Its mournful sigh startles my mind's repose;
I listen; but it passes quick as thought;
I know not whence it comes, nor where it goes.
'Tis thus with those, who of the Spirit are born,
A change comes o'er them; how they cannot say.
They wake, as from the darkness wakes the morn,
And mental night is changed to mental day.
'Tis God's mysterious work. 'Tis He can find,
Deep searching, and 'tis He can touch
The deep and hidden spring that rules the mind,
And change its tendencies, and make it such,
Redeemed, restored, as it was not before.
We know that 'tis God's work; but we can know no more.

— American Cottage Life (1850) XXXVII.

If There Is Sunshine in the Face

If there is sunshine in the face,

And joy upon the brow,

Do not suppose, that there's a trace

Of answering joy below.

And what avails the outward light,

Upon the face the smile;

If all within is dark as night,

If all is dead the while.

Deep in the heart the evil lies,

Which nought on earth can cure,

Aversion to the only Wise,

To God, the only Pure.

Oh Thou, who giv'st the heart renewed,

Withhold it not from me,

That, all my enmity subdued,

I may rejoice in Thee.

— Religious Maxims (1846).

Penitence

Oh, say when errors oft and black
Have deeply stained the inmost soul,
Who then shall call the wanderer back,
Who make the broken spirit whole?
Who give the tortured and depressed
The grateful balm, that soothes to rest?

When storms are driven across the sky,
The rainbow decks the troubled clouds,
And there is one whose love is nigh,
Where grief annoys and darkness shrouds;
He'll stretch abroad his bow of peace,
And bid the storm and tempest cease.

Then go, vain world, 'tis time to part,
Too long and darkly hast thou twined
Around this frail, corrupted heart,
And poisoned the immortal mind;
Oh, I have known the pangs that spring
From pleasures beak and folly's sting.

Hail, Prince of Heaven! Hail, Bow of rest!
Oh, downward scatter mercy's ray,
And all the darkness of my breast
Shall quickly turn to golden day.
With Thee is peace; no griefs annoy;
And tears are grateful gems of joy.

— Religious Maxims (1846).

Marks of True Humility: Bearing with Adversity

The truly humble man receives with great meekness of spirit all adverse occurrences — all sudden injuries of body and estate — all disruption of social ties by death or in other ways, and whatever other forms of human affliction exist. Whatever comes upon him, he feels that he deserves it. He opens not his mouth; he stands dumb, as the sheep before its shearer. Satan, it is true, tempts him to evil thoughts; but he resists them easily and triumphantly. It seems to him a light thing to suffer any thing which God sees fit to impose. He bears the cross like one that loves it.

In connection with these traits of feeling, which obviously characterize the humble man, we may perceive more clearly and definitely in what true humility consists. It is obvious, that it does not consist, as some might perhaps suppose, in mere sorrow. It is well known that sorrow sometimes exists in combination with impatience or with pride. But true humility excludes both of these. Nor does it consist in mere depression of spirits; a state of feeling which, it must be admitted, sometimes imparts an outward appearance of humility. But, in reality, the two states of mind are far from being identical. Humility consists in those feelings, whatever they may be, which are appropriate to a realizing sense of our entire dependence upon God. In other words, it consists in a deep sense of our own nothingness, attended with an equally deep and thorough conviction, that God is, and ought to be, to every holy being, the ALL IN ALL.

— edited from Religious Maxims (1846).

Marks of True Humility: Does Not Judge

The truly humble man, although he is not destitute of that observation and judgment, which are necessary to discriminate between right and wrong, is disposed to look with a forbearing and pitying eye on the faults of others. If a brother falls into transgression, while he himself is preserved, he knows who it is, and who alone it is, that makes him to differ. He feels deeply that he himself would be no better than others that fall into errors and sin, if he should cease to be sustained by the special grace of God. And he cannot fail, therefore, to remember that blessed passage of Scripture, which has a close connection with the highest experiences in religion: "judge not, that ye be not judged."

— edited from Religious Maxims (1846).