Centuries of Meditations. Thomas Traherne
Читать онлайн книгу.
The WORLD is not this little Cottage of Heaven and Earth. Though this be fair, it is too small a Gift. When God made the World He made the Heavens, and the Heavens of Heavens, and the Angels, and the Celestial Powers. These also are parts of the World : So are all those infinite and eternal Treasures that are to abide for ever, after the Day of Judgment. Neither are these, some here, and some there, but all everywhere, and at once to be enjoyed. The WORLD is unknown, till the Value and Glory of it is seen : till the Beauty and the Serviceableness of its parts if considered. When you enter into it, it is an illimited field of Varity and Beauty : where you may lose yourself in the multitude of Wonders and Delights. But it is an happy loss to lose oneself in admiration at one's own Felicity : and to find GOD in exchange for oneself. Which we
12
then do when we see Him in His Gifts, and adore His Glory.
19
You never know yourself till you know more than your body. The Image of God was not seated in the features of your face, but in the lineaments of your Soul. In the knowledge of your Powers, Inclinations, and Principles, the knowledge of yourself chiefly consisteth. Which are so great that even to the most learned of men, their Greatness is Incredible ; and so Divine, that they are infinite in value. Alas the WORLD is but a little centre in comparison of you. Suppose it millions of miles from the Earth to the Heavens, and millions of millions above the stars, both here and over the heads of our Antipodes : it is surrounded with infinite and eternal space : And like a gentleman's house to one that is travelling ; it is a long time before you come unto it, you pass it in an instant, and leave it for ever. The Omniprescence and Eternity of God are your fellows and companions. And all that is in them ought to be made your familiar Treasures. Your understanding comprehends the World like the dust of a balance, measures Heaven with a span, and esteems a thousand years but as one day. So that Great, Endless, Eternal Delights are only fit to be its enjoyments.
20
The laws of GOD, which are the commentaries of His works, shew them to be yours : because they
13
teach you to love God with all your Soul, and with all your Might. Whom if your love with all the endless powers of your Soul, you will love Him in Himself, in His attributes, in His counsels, in all His works, in all His ways ; and in every kind of thing wherein He appeareth, you will prize Him, you will Honour Him, you will delight in Him, you will ever desire to be with Him and to please Him. For to love Him includeth all this. You will feed with pleasure upon everything that is His. So that the world shall be a grand Jewel of Delight unto you : a very Paradise and the Gate of Heaven. It is indeed the beautiful frontispiece of Eternity ; the Temple of God discover all that is therein to be created for your sake. For they command you to love all that is good, and when you see well, you enjoy what you love. They apply the endless powers of your Soul to all their objects : and by ten thousand methods make everything to serve you. They command you to love all Angels and Men. When you love them, they are your treasures ; when they love you, to your great advantage you are theirs. All things serve you for serving them whom you love, and of whom you are beloved. The entrance of His words giveth Light to the simple. You are magnified among Angels and men : enriched by them, and happy in them.
14
21
By the very right of your senses you enjoy the World. Is not the beauty of the Hemisphere present to your eye ? Doth not the glory of the Sun pay tribute to your sight ? Is not the vision of the World an amiable thing ? Do not the stars shed influences to perfect the Air ? Is not that a marvellous body to breathe in ? To visit the lungs : repair the spirits, revive the senses, cool the blood, fill the empty spaces between the Earth and Heavens ; and yet give liberty to all objects ? Prize these first : and you shall enjoy the residue : Glory, Dominion, Power, Wisdom, Honour, Angels, Souls, Kingdoms, Ages. Be faithful in a little, and you shall be master over much. If you be not faithful in esteeming these ; who shall put into your hands the trie Treasures ? If you be negligent in prizing these, you will be negligent in prizing all. For there is a disease in him who despiseth present mercies, which till it be cured, he can never be happy. He esteemeth nothing that he hath, but is ever gaping after more : which when he hath he despiseth in like manner. Insatiableness is good, but not ingratitude.
22
It is of the nobility of man's soul that he is insatiable. For he hath a Benefactor so prone to give, that He delighteth in us for asking. Do not your inclinations tell you that the World is yours ? Do you not covet
15
all? Do you not long to have it ; to enjoy it ; to overcome it ? To what end do men gather riches, but to multiply more ? Do they not like Pyrrhus, the King of Epire, add house to house and lands to lands, that they may get it all ? It is storied of that prince, that having conceived a purpose to invade Italy, he sent for Cineas, a philosopher and the King's friend : to whom he communicated his design, and desires his counsel. Cineas asked him to what purpose he invaded Italy ? He said, to conquer it ? Go into France, said the King, and conquer that. And what will you do when you have conquered France ? Conquer Germany. And what then ? said the philosopher. Conquer Spain. I perceive, said Cineas, you mean to conquer all the World. What will you do when you have conquered all ? Why then said the King we will return, and enjoy ourselves at quiet in our own land. So you may now, said the philosopher, without all this ado. Yet could he not divert him till he was ruined by the Romans. Thus men get one hundred pound a year that they may get another ; and having two covet eight, and there is no end of all their labour ; because the desire of their Soul is insatiable. Like Alexander the Great they must have all : and when they have got it all, be quiet. And may they not do all this before they begin ? Nay it would be well, if they could be quiet. But if after all, they shall be like the stars, that are seated on high, but have no rest, what gain they more, but labour for their trouble ? It was wittily feigned that that young man sat down and
16
cried for more worlds to conquer. So insatiable is man that millions will not please him. They are no more than so many tennis-balls, in comparison of the Greatness and Highness of his Soul.
23
The noble inclination whereby man thirsteth after riches and dominion, is his highest virtue, when rightly guided ; and carries him as in a triumphant chariot, to his sovereign happiness. Men are made miserable only by abusing it. Taking a false way to satisfy it, they pursue the wind : nay, labour in the very fire, and after all reap but vanity. Whereas, as God's love, which is the fountain of all, did cost us nothing : so were all other things prepared by it to satisfy our inclinations in the best of manners, freely, without any cost of ours. Seeing therefore all satisfactions are near at hand, by going further we do but leave them ; and wearying ourselves in a long way round about, like a blind man, forsake them. They are immediately near to the very gates of our senses. It becometh the bounty of God to prepare them freely : to make them glorious, and their enjoyment east. For because His love is free, so are His treasures. He therefore that will despise them because he hath them is marvellously irrational : the way to possess them is to esteem them. And the true way of reigning over them, is to break the world all into parts, to examine them asunder : And if we find them so excellent that better could not possibly be
B 17
made, and so made they could not be more ours, to rejoice in all with pleasure answerable to the merit of their Goodness. We being then Kings over the whole world, when we restore the pieces to their proper places, being perfectly pleased with the whole composure. This shall give you a thorough grounded contentment, far beyond what troublesome wars or conquests can acquire.
24
Is it not a sweet thing to have all covetousness and ambition satisfied, suspicion and infidelity removed, courage and joy infused? Yet is all this in the fruition of the World attained. For thereby God is seen in all His wisdom, power, goodness, and glory.
25
Your enjoyment of the World is never right, till you so esteem it, that everything in it, is more your treasure than a King's exchequer full