Richard Baxter's dying thoughts upon Phil. I, 23 written for his own life and…

Go then, go willingly, O my Soul! Love joineth with LIGHT to draw up thy desires! Nature inclineth all things unto Union! Even the lifeless Elements have an Aggregative motion, by which the parts when violently separated, do hastily return to their Natural adhesion. Art thou a Lover of Wisdom, and wouldst thou not be united to the Wise? Art thou a Lover of Holiness, and of Love itself, and wouldst thou not be united to the Holy who are made of Love? Art thou a hater of enmity, discord and divisions, and a Lover of Unity here on Earth, and wouldst thou not be where all the just are One? It is not an unnatural Union to thy loss: Nothing shall be taken from thee by it: Thou shalt ⟨p. 191⟩receive by it more than thou canst contribute: It shall not be forced against thy will: It is but a Union of Minds and Wills; a perfect Union of Loves. Let not natural or sinful selfishness cause thee to think suspiciously or hardly of it: For it is thy happiness and end: What got the Angels that fell to selfishness from Unity? And what got Adam that followed them herein! The further any man goeth from UNITY by SELFISHNESS, the deeper he falleth into sin and misery from God! And what doth Grace but call us back, from sin and selfishness to Gods Unity again! Do•e not then on this dark divided World! Is not thy Body, while the parts by a uniting Soul are kept together and make One, in a better state than when it is crumbled into lifeless dust? And doth not death creep on thee by a gradual dissolution? Away then from this sandy incoherent state! The further from the Centre the further from Unity: A Unity indeed there is of all things; but it is One heavenly LIFE, and LIGHT, and LOVE which is the true felicitating Union.

Go then, go willingly, O my Soul! Love joineth with LIGHT to draw up thy desires! Nature inclineth all things unto Union! Even the lifeless Elements have an Aggregative motion, by which the parts when violently separated, do hastily return to their Natural adhesion. Art thou a Lover of Wisdom, and wouldst thou not be united to the Wise? Art thou a Lover of Holiness, and of Love itself, and wouldst thou not be united to the Holy who are made of Love? Art thou a hater of enmity, discord and divisions, and a Lover of Unity here on Earth, and wouldst thou not be where all the just are One? It is not an unnatural Union to thy loss: Nothing shall be taken from thee by it: Thou shalt ⟨p. 191⟩