Thus even Plotinus is driven to speak of his Divine Wisdom as the Father
and ever-present Companion of the soul,[13] and Kabir, for whom God is
the Unconditioned and the Formless, can yet exclaim:

"From the beginning until the end of time there is love between me and
thee: and how shall such love be extinguished?"[14]

Christianity, through its concepts of the Divine Fatherhood and of the
Eternal Christ, has given to this sense of personal communion its
fullest and most beautiful expression:

"Amore, chi t'ama non sta ozioso,
tanto li par dolce de te gustare,
ma tutta ora vive desideroso
como te possa stretto piú amare;
ché tanto sta per te lo cor gioioso,
chi nol sentisse, nol porría parlare
quanto é dolce a gustare lo tuo sapore."[15]

On the immense question of _what_ it is that lies behind this sense of
direct intercourse, this passionate friendship with the Invisible, I
cannot enter. But it has been one of the strongest and most fruitful
influences in religious history, and gives in particular its special
colour to the most perfect developments of Christian mysticism.

Last--and here is the aspect of religious experience which is specially
to concern us--Spirit is felt as an inflowing power, a veritable
accession of vitality; energizing the self, or the religious group,
impelling it to the fullest and most zealous living-out of its
existence, giving it fresh joy and vigour, and lifting it to fresh