would
become
experimentally
acquainted
with
this
matter
!
I
say,
then,
that
this
failure
of
work
does
not
spring
from
scarcity,
but
from
abundance.
Two
classes
of
persons
are
silent
:
the
one
because
they
have
nothing
to
say,
the
other
because
they
have
too
much.
It
is
thus
in
this
degree.
We
are
silent
from
excess,
not
from
want.
Water
causes
death
to
two
persons
in
very
different
ways.
One
dies
of
thirst,
another
is
drowned
:
the
one
dies
from
want,
the
other
from
abundance.
So
here
it
is
abundance
which
causes
the
cessation
of
natural
operation.
It
is
therefore
important
in
this
degree
to
remain
as
much
as
possible
in
stillness.
At
the
commencement
of
this
prayer,
a
movement
of
affection
is
necessary
;
but
when
grace
begins
to
flow
into
us,
we
have
nothing
to
do
but
to
remain
at
rest,
and
take
all
that
God
gives.
Any
other
move-ment
would
prevent
our
profiting
by
this
grace,
which
is
given
in
order
to
draw
us
into
the
rest
of
love.
The
soul
in
this
peaceful
attitude
of
prayer
falls
into
a
mystic
sleep,
in
which
all
its
natural
powers
are
silenced,
until
that
which
had
been
temporary
