And she said unto him, Give me a blessing: for you have given me the south land; give me also springs of water. And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.
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Gregory The Dialogist
AD 604
There are two main types of compunction, however. The penitent thirsting for God feels the compunction of fear at first; later on, he experiences the compunction of love. When he considers his sins, he is overcome with weeping because he fears eternal punishment. Then when this fear subsides through prolonged sorrow and penance, a feeling of security emerges from an assurance of forgiveness, and the soul begins to burn with a love for heavenly joys. Now the same person, who wept out of fear of punishment, sheds abundant tears because his entrance to the kingdom of heaven is being delayed. Once we envision the choirs of angels and fix our gaze on the company of the saints and the majesty of an endless vision of God, the thought of having no part in these joys makes us weep more bitterly than the fear of hell and the prospect of eternal misery did before. Thus the compunction of fear, when perfect, leads the soul to the compunction of love.
This is beautifully symbolized in one of the historical books of the Bible. There we read that Achsah, the daughter of Caleb, sighed as she sat upon her beast of burden. “And Caleb asked her. ‘What is troubling you?’ She answered, ‘Give me an additional gift! Since you have assigned to me land in the Negeb, give me also pools of water.’ So he gave her the upper and the lower pools.”
We say that Achsah sat on an ass because her soul presided over the irrational movements of her flesh. Just as she begged her father with a sigh for pools of water, so must we with deep groans obtain from our Creator the grace of tears. There are some who have received the gift of speaking out openly for justice, of defending the oppressed, of sharing their possessions with the needy, of professing their faith ardently, who still do not have the grace of tears. These we may say received “land in the Negeb,” that is, “southern and dry land,” but are completely lacking in “pools of water.” It is of utmost importance, however, that those who are zealous for good works and devote much time to performing them should also weep over their past sins, either through fear of eternal punishment or through longing for God’s kingdom.
Caleb gave Achsah the upper and lower pools. These correspond to the two kinds of compunction. The soul receives the upper pools when it weeps because of its longing for heaven; it receives the lower pools when the fear of hell causes it to break forth in tears. Actually, the lower pools are given first; then, only, the upper. Yet, since the compunction of love is greater in dignity, the upper pools were necessarily mentioned first and then the lower. - "Dialogue 3.34"
