It is my experience that as long as I keep looking at myself, like Job, my eye is filled with bitterness. But if I look upward and raise my eyes to the help that comes from the divine mercy, then my former bitter vision gives way before the joyful sight of God. Then I say, “My soul is cast down, so I think of you, from the country of Jordan.
Such a vision of God is not to be despised. God is seen as kind and receptive of our prayers, well disposed, merciful, and beyond all malice. God’s nature is goodness whose special property it is to take pity and to spare.
God is revealed for our salvation through such an experience. It follows this sequence. First of all one perceives oneself to be in dire straits. Then one cries to the Lord and is heard. Then the Lord will say, “I will free you and you shall honor me.” So, in this way, self-knowledge is shown to be a step in the direction of knowledge of God.
St. Bernard of Clairvaux
