He
is the truth, the absolute good, and the soul’s goodness comes from that same
source which has made it; the soul’s perfecting in goodness comes from the
conforming of its will to its nature, when it turns in love towards that good
to which it owes its very existence – an existence which cannot be lost even if
the will turns away from its creator.
This
good is not far from any of us, for ‘in him we live and move and have our
being’. But we must cleave in love to it so that we may enjoy the presence of
him from whom we have our being.
The
apostle says we walk by faith as yet, and not by sight. But unless we already
love him, we shall never see him. How can we love what we do not know? To know
God is to perceive him with the assured grasp of the mind, and so see and
apprehend him is given to the pure in heart. Our hearts however cannot be made
pure to see him unless we love him in faith.
Faith,
hope and charity are the virtues for whose building the whole scaffolding of
Scripture is set up. The soul which believes what it does not yet see, hopes in
and loves that which it believes – that is why we can love God if we believe,
even before we know him.
On the Trinity. VIII. 5
