Madame Guyon

"The life of the believer is like a torrent making its way out of the high mountains down into the canyons and chasms of life, passing through many experiences until finally coming to the spiritual experience of death. From there, the torrent experiences resurrection and a life lived in concert with the will of God while still going through many stages of refinement. At last the torrent finds its way into the vast, unlimited sea. Even here the torrent does not totally come to be one with the vast ocean until it has once more passed through final dealings by the Lord."

Madame Jeanne Marie Bouvières de la Mothe Guyon (1648-1717), was a French mystic and the leader of the Quietist movement in France.

Although immensely popular and admired my many influential members of the court, her views soon came under suspicion of heresy. She was consequently persecuted and imprisoned several time.

She kept up an enormous correspondence and her works fill over forty volumes. Her most famous writings are The Short and Very Easy Method of Prayer, and her Autobiography.