Thee alone O Lord my soul desires; thou art eternal sweetness in my soul. If the perfume of thy oyntment be sufficient to all the world, what is the refection of thy Table? If we live by every word proceeding out of thy mouth, what felicity and joy is it to live upon thee the eternal Word, chewing thee by faith, and digesting thee by love, and entertaining thee in our hearts for ever? How shall not my bowels melt into thee the Sun of righteousness? How is it that I do not forget all deliciousness besides thee?
A single pleasure, poor and empty, wearying and unsatisfying, hath often made me to forget thee. Now that thou art truly and effectively present with me, how can any other pleasure in the world seem pleasant to me any more? I will forget all the world, I will quit all the world to live on thee, if thou pleasest, O dearest Saviour: but do thou open thy ark and repositories of sweetness, and fill my soul and all my desires, that there may be no room for any thing else.
Thou hast called unto me to open my hand and thou wouldst fill it: But I would not open it; I held the world fast, and kept my hand shut, and would not let it go. But do thou open it for me; not my hand only, but my mouth; not my mouth, but my heart also.
Jeremy Taylor (1613–1667), a Church of England cleric and author (It may be that Taylor means the partaking of Christ somewhat more literally than I do, but I am taking it figuratively. Many like to share the open hands part, but usually out of its context)
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