MEDITATION
THE kingdom of God is within you," says the Lord.[8]
Turn, then, to God with all your heart. Forsake this wretched
world and your soul shall find rest. Learn to despise external things,
to devote yourself to those that are within, and you will see the
kingdom of God come unto you, that kingdom which is peace and joy in
the Holy Spirit, gifts not given to the impious.
Christ will come to you offering His consolation, if you
prepare a fit dwelling for Him in your heart, whose beauty and glory,
wherein He takes delight, are all from within. His visits with the
inward man are frequent, His communion sweet and full of consolation,
His peace great, and His intimacy wonderful indeed.
Therefore, faithful soul, prepare your heart for this
Bridegroom that He may come and dwell within you; He Himself says: "If
any one love Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him,
and We will come to him, and will make Our abode with him."[9]
Give place, then, to Christ, but deny entrance to all others,
for when you have Christ you are rich and He is sufficient for you. He
will provide for you. He will supply your every want, so that you need
not trust in frail, changeable men. Christ remains forever, standing
firmly with us to the end.
Do not place much confidence in weak and mortal man, helpful
and friendly though he be; and do not grieve too much if he sometimes
opposes and contradicts you. Those who are with us today may be
against us tomorrow, and vice versa, for men change with the wind.
Place all your trust in God; let Him be your fear and your love. He
will answer for you; He will do what is best for you.
You have here no lasting home. You are a stranger and a pilgrim
wherever you may be, and you shall have no rest until you are wholly
united with Christ.
Why do you look about here when this is not the place of your
repose? Dwell rather upon heaven and give but a passing glance to all
earthly things. They all pass away, and you together with them. Take
care, then, that you do not cling to them lest you be entrapped and
perish. Fix your mind on the Most High, and pray unceasingly to
Christ.
If you do not know how to meditate on heavenly things, direct
your thoughts to Christ's passion and willingly behold His sacred
wounds. If you turn devoutly to the wounds and precious stigmata of
Christ, you will find great comfort in suffering, you will mind but
little the scorn of men, and you will easily bear their slanderous
talk.
When Christ was in the world, He was despised by men; in the
hour of need He was forsaken by acquaintances and left by friends to
the depths of scorn. He was willing to suffer and to be despised; do
you dare to complain of anything? He had enemies and defamers; do you
want everyone to be your friend, your benefactor? How can your
patience be rewarded if no adversity test it? How can you be a friend
of Christ if you are not willing to suffer any hardship? Suffer with
Christ and for Christ if you wish to reign with Him.
Had you but once entered into perfect communion with Jesus or
tasted a little of His ardent love, you would care nothing at all for
your own comfort or discomfort but would rejoice in the reproach you
suffer; for love of Him makes a man despise himself.
A man who is a lover of Jesus and of truth, a truly interior
man who is free from uncontrolled affections, can turn to God at will
and rise above himself to enjoy spiritual peace.
He who tastes life as it really is, not as men say or think it
is, is indeed wise with the wisdom of God rather than of men.
He who learns to live the interior life and to take little
account of outward things, does not seek special places or times to
perform devout exercises. A spiritual man quickly recollects himself
because he has never wasted his attention upon externals. No outside
work, no business that cannot wait stands in his way. He adjusts
himself to things as they happen. He whose disposition is well ordered
cares nothing about the strange, perverse behavior of others, for a
man is upset and distracted only in proportion as he engrosses himself
in externals.
If all were well with you, therefore, and if you were purified
from all sin, everything would tend to your good and be to your
profit. But because you are as yet neither entirely dead to self nor
free from all earthly affection, there is much that often displeases
and disturbs you. Nothing so mars and defiles the heart of man as
impure attachment to created things. But if you refuse external
consolation, you will be able to contemplate heavenly things and often
to experience interior joy. |
Of the inward life
The kingdom of God is within you,(1) saith the
Lord. Turn thee with all thine heart to the Lord and forsake this
miserable world, and thou shalt find rest unto thy soul. Learn to
despise outward things and to give thyself to things inward, and thou
shalt see the kingdom of God come within thee. For the kingdom of God
is peace and joy in the Holy Ghost, and it is not given to the
wicked. Christ will come to thee, and show thee His consolation, if
thou prepare a worthy mansion for Him within thee. All His glory and
beauty is from within, and there it pleaseth Him to dwell. He often
visiteth the inward man and holdeth with him sweet discourse, giving
him soothing consolation, much peace, friendship exceeding wonderful.
2. Go to, faithful soul, prepare thy heart for
this bridegroom that he may vouchsafe to come to thee and dwell within
thee, for so He saith, if any man loveth me he will keep my words: and
my Father will love him, and we will come unto him and make our abode
with him.(2) Give, therefore, place to Christ and refuse entrance to
all others. When thou hast Christ, thou art rich, and hast
sufficient. He shall be thy provider and faithful watchman in all
things, so that thou hast no need to trust in men, for men soon change
and swiftly pass away, but Christ remaineth for ever and standeth by
us firmly even to the end.
3. There is no great trust to be placed in a
frail and mortal man, even though he be useful and dear to us, neither
should much sorrow arise within us if sometimes he oppose and
contradict us. They who are on thy side to-day, may to-morrow be
against thee, and often are they turned round like the wind. Put thy
whole trust in God and let Him be thy fear and thy love, He will
answer for thee Himself, and will do for thee what is best. Here hast
thou no continuing city,(3) and wheresoever thou art, thou art a
stranger and a pilgrim, and thou shalt never have rest unless thou art
closely united to Christ within thee.
4. Why dost thou cast thine eyes hither and
thither, since this is not the place of thy rest? In heaven ought thy
habitation to be, and all earthly things should be looked upon as it
were in the passing by. All things pass away and thou equally with
them. Look that thou cleave not to them lest thou be taken with them
and perish. Let thy contemplation be on the Most High, and let thy
supplication be directed unto Christ without ceasing. If thou canst
not behold high and heavenly things, rest thou in the passion of
Christ and dwell willingly in His sacred wounds. For if thou devoutly
fly to the wounds of Jesus, and the precious marks of the nails and
the spear, thou shalt find great comfort in tribulation, nor will the
slights of men trouble thee much, and thou wilt easily bear their
unkind words.
5. Christ also, when He was in the world, was
despised and rejected of men, and in His greatest necessity was left
by His acquaintance and friends to bear these reproaches. Christ was
willing to suffer and be despised, and darest thou complain of any?
Christ had adversaries and gainsayers, and dost thou wish to have all
men thy friends and benefactors? Whence shall thy patience attain her
crown if no adversity befall thee? If thou art unwilling to suffer
any adversity, how shalt thou be the friend of Christ? Sustain
thyself with Christ and for Christ if thou wilt reign with Christ.
6. If thou hadst once entered into the mind of
Jesus, and hadst tasted yea even a little of his tender love, then
wouldst thou care nought for thine own convenience or inconvenience,
but wouldst rather rejoice at trouble brought upon thee, because the
love of Jesus maketh a man to despise himself. He who loveth Jesus,
and is inwardly true and free from inordinate affections, is able to
turn himself readily unto God, and to rise above himself in spirit,
and to enjoy fruitful peace.
7. He who knoweth things as they are and not as
they are said or seem to be, he truly is wise, and is taught of God
more than of men. He who knoweth how to walk from within, and to set
little value upon outward things, requireth not places nor waiteth for
seasons, for holding his intercourse with God. The inward man quickly
recollecteth himself, because he is never entirely given up to outward
things. No outward labour and no necessary occupations stand in his
way, but as events fall out, so doth he fit himself to them. He who
is rightly disposed and ordered within careth not for the strange and
perverse conduct of men. A man is hindered and distracted in so far
as he is moved by outward things.
8. If it were well with thee, and thou wert
purified from evil, all things would work together for thy good and
profiting. For this cause do many things displease thee and often
trouble thee, that thou art not yet perfectly dead to thyself nor
separated from all earthly things. Nothing so defileth and entangleth
the heart of man as impure love towards created things. If thou
rejectest outward comfort thou wilt be able to contemplate heavenly
things and frequently to be joyful inwardly. |