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The Imitation of Christ
Thomas à Kempis
BOOK TWO
THE INTERIOR LIFE
The First Chapter
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.
