“After this came the state of Forsakenness of God and so surrounded my soul that it cried: ‘Welcome, blessed Forsaken-ness! . . . You bring me unaccustomed joy and inconceivable wonders and sweetness beyond what I can bear. But Lord, You must take this sweetness from me and leave me only Forsaken-ness. Well for me, that after the transformation of love, gall has been changed into honey in the palate of my soul . . .
"Now is God marvelous to me and His Forsaken-ness better even than Himself! . . . Ah! Blessed Forsaken-ness! You strengthen my will in suffering . . . When You leave me, O God, it is a high and heavenly courage Your absence gives me.' "
Mechthild of Magdeburg
13th century German mystic
Photos: Snags in an old burn; Snowy Range, WY; August 22, 2014
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