more and he that desires let him desire yet more abundantly.”^69 Not only is it critical
to seek God’s assistance in stirring up desires, but also it is equally important not only
to speak the words of longing but also actually to feel them deeply in your soul.^70
Further, Ambrose recognizes the importance of contemptus mundi and realizes
that his desires and those of all people need to be refined and that “God sends
afflictions to weane us from the world.”^71 Therefore, Walsh is correct when she
asserts, “[a]bsence inflames desire as selective memory forgets all unpleasantness and
longing grows pure.”^72 More specifically Belden Lane maintains that for the Puritans,
“[a]ffliction, then, far from being a sign of God’s indifference or lack of covenant
love, becomes a means of testing, teasing, and binding the believer to the Divine
Lover more closely than ever.”^73 This reinforces Ambrose’s previous earnest request
that God would “wound very deeply our hearts with the dart of thy love.” This
paradoxical nature of God’s love is traced to Song of Songs 2:5, “for I am sick of
love.” The painful absence of the bridegroom intensifies the desire and longing of the
bride for her lover.^74 De Reuver reminds readers of another paradox that lovesickness
comes from meditating on Christ’s via dolorosa.^75 These painful, often debilitating
experiences of affliction, suffering, and death, serve to make the soul more tender and
reveal a person’s deepest needs and refine their desires and redirect them more fully
towards yearning intimately for God. Ambrose confesses the specific motivation for
(^69) Ambrose, Looking Unto Jesus (^) , 217. Bern: delect: evang: serm. is listed as the
source. 70
71 Ambrose, Looking Unto Jesus, 635.^
72 Ambrose, Ultima (1640), 111.^
73 Walsh, Exquisite Desire, 22.^
74 Belden Lane, “Rivers of Pleasure,” 85, cf. 86-9.^
75 McGinn, de Reuver, Growth of MysticismSweet Communion, 42., 61.