"Pietà" My great-aunt, who was a very devout Methodist, always had a copy of The Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis on her beside table along with her Bible. I think you can see why:
Ah, Lord God, holy lover of my soul, when you come into my heart, all that is within me shall rejoice. You are my glory and the exultation of my heart: you are my hope and refuge in the day of my trouble.
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Love is a great thing, yes, a great and thorough good; by itself it makes every thing that is heavy, light; and it bears evenly all that is uneven.
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Nothing is sweeter than love, nothing more courageous, nothing higher, nothing wider, nothing more pleasant, nothing fuller nor better in heaven and earth; because love is born of God, and cannot rest but in God, above all created things.
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Make me large in love, that with the inward palate of my heart I may taste how sweet it is to love, and to be dissolved, and as it were to bathe myself in your love.
That's beautiful. I love the way the last phrase sounds, 'and as it were to bathe myself in your love'. It's a wonderful image.
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