The Imitation of Christ. Thomas à Kempis
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your power, and God will aid your good will. Put no trust in your own learning nor in the cunning of any man, but rather in the grace of God, who helps the humble and humbles the proud.
If you have wealth, do not glory in it, nor in friends because they are powerful, but in God who gives all things and who desires above all to give himself. Do not boast of personal stature or of physical beauty, qualities which are marred and destroyed by a little sickness. Do not take pride in your talent or ability, lest you displease God to whom belongs all the natural gifts that you have.
Do not think yourself better than others lest, perhaps, you be accounted worse before God, who knows what is in man. Do not take pride in your good deeds, for God’s judgments differ from ours, and what pleases us often displeases him. If there is good in you, see more good in others, so that you may remain humble. It does no harm to esteem yourself less than anyone else, but it is very harmful to think yourself better than even one. The humble live in continuous peace, while in the hearts of the proud are envy and frequent anger.
Chapter Eight
Avoiding Overfamiliarity
Do not open your heart to everyone, but discuss your affairs with one who is wise and who fears God. Do not keep company with young people and strangers. Do not fawn upon the rich, and do not be fond of mingling with the great. Associate with the humble and the simple, with the devout and virtuous, and speak with them about edifying things. Do not be intimate with any woman, but generally commend all good women to God. Seek only the intimacy of God and of his angels, and avoid the notice of men.
We ought to have charity for all, but familiarity with all is not beneficial. Sometimes it happens that a person enjoys a good reputation among those who do not know him, but at the same time is held in slight regard by those who do. Frequently we think we are pleasing others by our presence, and we begin rather to displease them by the faults they find in us.
Chapter Nine
Obedience and Subjection
It is a very great thing to obey, to live under a superior and not to be one’s own master, for it is much safer to be subject than it is to command. Many live in obedience more from necessity than from love. They become discontented and dejected on the slightest pretext; they will never gain peace of mind unless they subject themselves wholeheartedly for the love of God.
Go where you may, you will find no rest except in humble obedience to the rule of authority. Many have been deceived by dreams of happiness from change and different places.
Everyone, it is true, wishes to do as he pleases and is attracted to those who agree with him. But if God is among us, we must at times give up our opinions for the blessings of peace.
Furthermore, who is so wise that he can have full knowledge of everything? Do not trust too much in your own opinions but be willing to listen to those of others. If, though your own be good, you accept another’s opinion for love of God, you will gain much more merit; for I have often heard that it is safer to listen to advice and take it than to give it. It may happen, too, that while one’s own opinion might be good, refusal to agree with others when reason and occasion demand it is a sign of pride and obstinacy.
Chapter Ten
Avoiding Idle Talk
Shun gossip as much as possible, for discussion of worldly affairs, even when it is sincere, is a great distraction inasmuch as we are quickly ensnared and captivated by vanity.
Many a time I wish that I had held my peace and had not associated with men. Why, indeed, do we converse and gossip among ourselves when we so seldom part without a troubled conscience? We do so because we seek comfort from one another’s conversation and wish to ease the mind wearied by diverse thoughts. Thus, we talk and think quite fondly of things we like very much or of things we dislike intensely. But, sad to say, we often speak vainly and to no purpose; for this external pleasure effectively bars inward and divine consolation.
Therefore, we must watch and pray lest time pass idly.
When the right and opportune moment comes for speaking, say something that will edify.
Bad habits and indifference to spiritual progress do much to remove the guard from the tongue. Devout conversation on spiritual matters, on the contrary, is a great aid to spiritual progress, especially when persons of the same mind and spirit associate together in God.
Chapter Eleven
Acquiring Peace and Zeal for Perfection
We would enjoy much peace if we did not concern ourselves with what others say and do, for these things are no concern of ours. How can anyone who meddles in affairs not his own, who seeks strange distractions, and who is little or seldom inwardly recollected live long in peace?
Blessed are the simple of heart, for they will enjoy peace in abundance.
Why were some of the saints so perfect and so given to contemplation? Because they tried to mortify all earthly desires entirely, and thus they were able to attach themselves to God with all their heart and freely to concentrate their innermost thoughts.
We are too occupied with our own whims and fancies, too taken up with passing things. Rarely do we completely conquer even one vice, and we are not inflamed with the desire to improve ourselves day by day; for this reason, we remain cold and indifferent. If we mortified our bodies perfectly and allowed no distractions to enter our minds, we could appreciate divine things and experience something of heavenly contemplation.
The greatest obstacle — indeed, the only obstacle — is that we are not free from passions and lusts, that we do not try to follow the perfect way of the saints. Thus, when we encounter some slight difficulty, we are too easily dejected and turn to human consolations. If we tried, however, to stand as brave men in battle, the help of the Lord from heaven would surely sustain us. For he who gives us the opportunity of fighting for victory is ready to help those who carry on and trust in his grace.
If we let our progress in religious life depend on the observance of its externals alone, our devotion will quickly come to an end. Let us, then, lay the axe to the root that we may be freed from our passions and thus have peace of mind.
If we were to uproot only one vice each year, we should soon become perfect. The contrary, however, is often the case — we feel that we were better and purer in the first fervor of our conversion than we are after many years in the practice of our faith. Our fervor and progress ought to increase day by day; yet it is now considered noteworthy if a man can retain even a part of his first fervor.
If we did a little violence to ourselves at the start, we should afterwards be able to do all things with ease and joy. It is hard to break old habits, but harder still to go against our will.
If you do not overcome small, trifling things, how will you overcome the more difficult? Resist temptations in the beginning and unlearn the evil habit, lest perhaps, little by little, it lead to a more evil one.
If you but consider what peace a good life will bring to you and what joy it will give to others, I think you will be more concerned about your spiritual progress.
Chapter Twelve
The Value of Adversity
It is good for us to have trials and troubles at times, for they often remind us that we are on probation and should not hope in any worldly thing. It is good for us sometimes to suffer contradiction, to be misjudged by others even though we do well and mean well. These things help us to be humble and shield us from vainglory. When to all outward appearances people give us no credit, when they do not think well of us, then we are more inclined to seek God, who sees our hearts. Therefore, a person ought to root himself so firmly in God that he will not need the consolations of men.
When a person of good will is afflicted, tempted,