On Knowing the Qualities of the Heart

The heart is the treasury of divine secrets; the heart is the keeper of spiritual light. The house of the heart is a mine of truth and purity, the place where the light of God's own being appears. What is the heart? The one that reveals the ways of the soul. What is the heart? The one that receives the soul's downpour of grace. Restraint and reverence, nearness to God, fear and hope, worth, honesty, sincerity, and purity, detachment, surrender, reflection, the light of thought, the light of reason, the light of awe, the light of remembrance, all of these become the heart's own qualities, if you cleanse it of everything that stands beside God. You who are captive to your heart's incurable pain, drowning in the endless ocean of your heart, do not leave your heart in the demon's grip, my son; take it back from him and bring it home, my son. Drive the demon out of the court of your heart; for a while, stand bravely as your heart's own gatekeeper.