Madame Jeanne Guyon (1648-1717) is becoming a favorite of the classic writers for Spiritual Formation. A product of French high society, Jeanne was raised in convents from the age of
two and a half. At ten years old, she found a Bible left in her room and began
earnestly to study and memorize it. From then on, she pursued an exclusive
devotion to God.
She married at 16 to an older man who left her a widow with three young children
at the age of 28. With the wealth her husband had left her, she devoted the
remaining 40 years of her life to serving God through personal evangelism,
writing, and helping the poor. She founded hospitals and gave away much of her
wealth anonymously.
She traveled throughout France and Switzerland teaching people how to pray and
challenging them to live holy lives. She mainly met with people privately and
avoided "preaching." All the while, she sought an ever-deeper union
with God to the point that she felt God possessed her, speaking and acting
through her.
So what was the problem? Well, the Roman Catholic Church at that time opposed
her Quietism, which teaches that spiritual perfection can be attained when self
is lost in the contemplation of God. The authorities also warned her that it was
the business of priests to pray, not women, and certainly not in the way she
prayed -- with intimacy, from her heart. Unmoved by intimidation and popular
among all levels of society, she fearlessly used every chance to share her
spiritual ideas with everyone she encountered.
Finally, the church had her arrested and sent to prison for seven years, the
last two in solitary confinement in the Bastille. She continued to write, having
produced a 20-volume commentary on the Bible, an autobiography, and many
short works, "The Way to
God" and "A Short and Very Easy Method of Prayer."
She shared a 25-year spiritual friendship with Archbishop Francois de Fenelon,
the most celebrated churchman of that day. Their letters, over 100, have been
called "one of the most precious documents for the study of mystic thought
transmitted to us from the past."
After King Louis XIV released her from prison, Madame Guyon lived another 15
years, suffering patiently and glorifying God in her illnesses, until she died
at age 69.
"If Madame Guyon could come to our home for a cup of
coffee and conversation what one question would you most want ask
her?" I know I would not be able to contain my time with her to one
question. First, where does the hope in suffering grant a believer the
ability to "Plunge into the very depths of the words you read until
revelation, like sweet aroma, break out upon you." Where was she when
she wrote these words? Did the scriptures bring a sweet aroma, because
the confinement was in a place that was filled with such horrible
smells?
Second, I would want to know what passages spoke to her
in hardest times and in her greatest triumphs. I would want to
know why? During her confinement was she allowed to have a bible with
her, or did she have the words memorized. If her writings emerged from
when she was confined, how did she get them out?
Third, I would
ask her to talk to me about how the Holy Spirit transformed her in
seeking an "inward approach" to God. Explain to me how God revealed
to her the truth as she wrote to us, "You should always remember that
you are not doing this to gain some understanding of what you have read;
rather, you are reading in order to turn your mind from outward things
to the deep parts of your being." The deep parts of my being have a
tendency to groan and long for heaven and home. How does transformation
in time of persecution enhance these longings.
The fourth
question is that there is comfort in the name of the Lord for those that
are oppressed. There is also great pressure for those under confinement
and persecution to grow in their faith because it is often the only
thing to hold on to. My question is, "What comfort is there in not being
confined or oppressed?" It seems that I am not confined nor am I
oppressed, I live in a mediocrity driven religious world that wants to
coexist. What advice does she have for a person like me?
The
fifth question is simply to ask her to pray for me. I would love to just
sit and listen to her pray. I want to experience how she relates to God and
how God relates to her. I would love to just sit and listen to her words
pray over me and allow the Holy Spirit to immerse the moment.
You know I love ya, Don
Paul responds to such accusations by turning the worldly view on it side and pointing to a crucified Jesus. It is through suffering which prove Paul's service. It is through surrender to the suffering Messiah comes the discovery of the power of God and the consequential conquering of death. Paul writes: "But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves; we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body." (NASB 2 Co 4:7–10). Paul's suffering is the mark of Jesus on his life.
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