the
true following of Christ, and totally removed by nothing but a perfect
conformity with the Divine Will.

DISCIPLE

But how shall I be able to _break_ this creaturely will which is in me,
and is at enmity with the Divine Will? Or what shall I do to follow
Christ in so difficult a path, and not to faint in a continual course of
self-denial or resignation to the Will of God.

MASTER

This is not to be done by thyself; but by the light and grace of God
received into thy soul, which will, if thou gainsay not, break the
darkness that is in thee, and melt down thy old will, which worketh in
the darkness and corruption of Nature, and bring it into the obedience
of Christ, whereby the partition of the creaturely self is removed from
betwixt God and thee.

DISCIPLE

I know that I cannot do it of myself. But I would fain learn how I must
receive this Divine Light and Grace into me, which is to do it for me,
if I hinder it not my own self. What is then required of me in order to
admit this Breaker of the partition, and to promote the attainment of
the ends of such admission?

MASTER

There is nothing more required of thee at first than not to resist this
grace, which is manifested in thee; and nothing in the whole process of
the work, but to be obedient and passive to the Light of God shining
through the darkness of thy creaturely being, which comprehendeth it
not, as reaching no higher than the _Light of Nature_.

DISCIPLE

But is it not for me to attain, if I can, both the Light of God, and
the Light of the outward Nature too, and to make use of them both for
the ordering of my life wisely and prudently?

MASTER

It is right so to do. And it is indeed a treasure above all earthly
treasures to be possessed of the Light of God and Nature operating in
their spheres, and to have both the Eye of Time and Eternity at once
open together, and yet not to interfere with each other.

DISCIPLE

This is a great satisfaction to me to hear; having been very uneasy
about it for some time. But how this can be without interfering with
each other, there is the difficulty. Wherefore fain would I know, if it
were lawful, the boundaries of the one and the other, and how both the
Divine and the Natural Light may in their several spheres respectively
act and operate for the Manifestation of the Mysteries of God and
Nature, and for the conduct of my outward and inward life?

MASTER

That each of these may be preserved distinc