22. Distinction Between Outward and Inward Acts

Of Inward Deeds

The works of man are either outward or inward. The outward works are those that appear outwardly with regard to some tangible object; they have no other moral good or evil than what they receive from the inward principle from which they proceeded. I do not intend to speak of these, but only of inward deeds, which are the actions of the soul whereby it inwardly holds to some object and so forsakes another.

If, when my soul is applied to God, I would do some deed of another nature, I thereby forsake God, and turn myself towards created things, according as my deed is more or less strong. If, when my soul is turned towards the creature, I wish to return to God, there must be an act of the will to withdraw my soul from the creature and turn it to God: and the more complete this act is, the more entire is the conversion. But until I am perfectly converted I must turn back to God again and again; for most people, this takes place little by little (although it may be accomplished at once by some). However, in each deed I ought to exert the whole strength of my soul to return to God, according to the counsel of the Son of Sirach, “Reunite all the motions of your heart in the holiness of God.” (Reference doubtful; perhaps Ecclesiasticus 39:5 is intended.) And as David did, “I will keep my whole strength for You” (Psalm 59:9 – Vulgate), which is done by entering strongly into oneself, as the scripture says, “Return to your heart.” Isaiah 46:8. For we have wandered from our heart by sin; therefore God demands just our heart. “My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes be always fixed upon My ways.” Proverbs 23:26. To give one’s heart to God is to have at all times the eye, the force, the vigor of the soul fixed upon Him, that one may perfectly follow His will in all things. Wherefore, when the heart is once applied to God, it ought to continue thus turned towards Him.

To Counteract the Soul’s Distractions

But the mind of man is frail and prone to levity, so the soul—thus accustomed to roam abroad—is easily diverted and dissipated; therefore, as soon as it perceives itself wandering abroad among outward things, it must, by a simple act, return to God, and reinstate itself in Him: then the deed will subsist so long as its conversion lasts, in virtue of its simple and unfeigned return to God. We know that deeds often repeated form a habit, so that the soul will be accustomed to turning to God. This act becomes altogether natural as it recurs.

Then the soul ought not to perplex itself in seeking to perform this deed, because it already exists; nay, if it tries to perform it, it will encounter great difficulty: besides, it will find that hereby it is drawn from its proper state under the pretence of seeking after it, which is a thing it should never do, seeing that the relationship is constant. It was attained in conversion, and it is strengthened in an habitual conversion and in an habitual love. Men seek after a thing by several separate acts, instead of keeping themselves fixed upon God alone, by one simple act.

One may observe that sometimes he can with great ease perform such acts distinctly but simply when he turns inward (which is a sign that he was gone astray, and that now he enters again into his heart, after he had wandered from it). But once having returned to it, let him take care to remain there in peace. When anyone thinks that he ought not to perform these inward acts, he is sorely mistaken, for he performs always some things: but everyone ought to perform them to the degree to which he has advanced.

Important Distinctions

To clear up this section fully (which is indeed somewhat difficult, with even the majority of those who are spiritual not comprehending it) you must know that some deeds are transient and distinct, and others are continuous; again, some deeds are direct and others reflexive. All cannot form the first; neither are all in the proper state for forming the second. The first sort of deeds ought to be done by the persons who have gone astray: they ought to turn themselves again by a definite, conscious act, which should be more or less strong, according to how far they have strayed; so that when the straying is but little, the simplest of deeds is sufficient.

I call that the continuous act, in which the soul is wholly turned towards its God by an initial direct act, which it does not renew (unless perhaps it may have been interrupted) because the relationship continues. The soul, I say, being turned after this manner, is indeed in love and dwells therein. “And he who dwells in love dwells in God.” 1 John 4:16. Then the soul has entered, as it were, into the habit of the deed, in which it rests. But its rest is not idle; for then your deed which continues all the while, is in fact a sweet retirement in God, to which God constantly attracts most strongly, and the soul readily following this powerful attraction, and abiding in His love, is always more and more engulfed and swallowed up in love; and here its action is infinitely more strong and more vigorous than the first deed, which served for nothing but to bring it home from its wandering.

Unconscious Deeds

Now the soul in this profound and strong deed, being wholly turned towards its God, has no perception of its own action, because it is direct and not reflexive, which is why some persons who do not explain themselves well, say that they do not act at all. But that is incorrect, for the soul never does anything better or more effective. Let it rather say, “I do not distinguish the deeds I do,” and not, “I do not do any deeds.”

It is true, the soul does not do them by itself, but is drawn, and follows that which draws it. Love is the weight which sinks it down, as a person falling into the sea, and it would sink even to infinity if the sea wee infinite: and without perceiving his development, he would descend into the lowest depths with an incredible swiftness.

Therefore, to say that one does no deed is to speak amiss. Everyone does deeds, but not all do them in the same way; and further the mistake is that many who know they must do deeds, wish to do each one of them distinctly and consciously, which indeed cannot be, because those of which we are conscious are for beginners, while the others are for advanced souls. To stop in the first deeds, which are weak and advance us to little, is to deprive oneself of the latter. So, in like manner, to endeavor to do the latter deeds without having passed through the first, would be an equally great error.

All things must be done in their proper season. Every state has its beginning, its progress, and its end. “To everything there is a season.” Ecclesiastes 3:1. He would be very wrong who should resolve not to go further than the beginning. There is no art in which it is impossible to progress. At the beginning there must be laboring with toil, but then there follows an enjoyment of the fruit of one’s labor.

A Parable of Those Who Go Down to the Sea in Ships

When a ship is in the dock, the sailors are forced to work hard to launch her into the ocean; but afterwards they easily turn her to any coast whither they would go. In like manner, while the soul is yet in sin and in the creature, struggling and toil are required to draw it out; there must be an untying of the cords which bind it, then, by means of strong and vigorous deeds (efforts to draw the soul inward), removing it little by little from its own port; and in removing it from there it is turned inwards to God, which is the haven into which we desire to sail.

Where the vessel is turned in this way—the more it advances in the sea, the more it is at a distance from the land; and the further it is from the land, the less need there is of any labor to draw her along. At last the sailors begin to sail most pleasantly, and the vessel runs so well that they quit the oars, which have become useless. What does the captain do then? He is content to spread the sails and hold the rudder. To spread the sails is to make the prayer of simple exposure or laying of oneself open before God, in order to be moved by His Spirit. To hold the rudder is to keep our heart from wandering out of the right part, recalling it gently, and guiding it according to the motion of the Spirit of God, which by degrees takes possession of the heart, even as the wind comes little by little to fill the sails and drive the vessel along. As long as the ship has the wind at the stern, the captain and the sailor cease from their labor, and repose themselves. How much headway they make without fatiguing themselves! They make more headway in one hour in reposing themselves after this manner, and leaving the vessel to the conduct of the wind, than they could do in a great deal of time by all their utmost efforts at first; and if they would row, besides greatly fatiguing themselves, their labor would be quite useless, and they would slow the vessel down.

This is the very conduct which we ought to observe in the inward life, and by acting in this manner we shall advance more in a little time by the divine motion than we can in any other way, by a great many of our strugglings and efforts. Would people but take this method, they would find it the easiest in the world.

The Anchor of Faith

When the wind is contrary and the storm great, the anchor must be cast into the sea to stop the vessel. This anchor is nothing else but confidence in God, and hope in His goodness, waiting in patience for the calm and for fair weather, till the wind prove favorable again; as David did. “I have waited,” he said, “for the Lord with great patience, and He has at last stooped even to me.” Psalm 40:1. We must therefore surrender ourselves to the Spirit of God, leaving ourselves to be guided by His motions.