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The Imitation of Christ
Thomas à Kempis
The Eighth Chapter
THE INTIMATE FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS
WHEN Jesus is near, all is well and nothing seems difficult. When He is absent,
all is hard. When Jesus does not speak within, all other comfort is empty, but
if He says only a word, it brings great consolation.
Did not Mary Magdalen rise at once from her weeping when Martha said to her:
"The Master is come, and calleth for thee"?[13] Happy is the hour when Jesus
calls one from tears to joy of spirit.
How dry and hard you are without Jesus! How foolish and vain if you desire
anything but Him! Is it not a greater loss than losing the whole world? For
what, without Jesus, can the world give you? Life without Him is a relentless
hell, but living with Him is a sweet paradise. If Jesus be with you, no enemy
can harm you.
He who finds Jesus finds a rare treasure, indeed, a good above every good,
whereas he who loses Him loses more than the whole world. The man who lives
without Jesus is the poorest of the poor, whereas no one is so rich as the man
who lives in His grace.
It is a great art to know how to converse with Jesus, and great wisdom to know
how to keep Him. Be humble and peaceful, and Jesus will be with you. Be devout
and calm, and He will remain with you. You may quickly drive Him away and lose
His grace, if you turn back to the outside world. And, if you drive Him away and
lose Him, to whom will you go and whom will you then seek as a friend? You
cannot live well without a friend, and if Jesus be not your friend above all
else, you will be very sad and desolate. Thus, you are acting foolishly if you
trust or rejoice in any other. Choose the opposition of the whole world rather
than offend Jesus. Of all those who are dear to you, let Him be your special
love. Let all things be loved for the sake of Jesus, but Jesus for His own sake.
Jesus Christ must be loved alone with a special love for He alone, of all
friends, is good and faithful. For Him and in Him you must love friends and foes
alike, and pray to Him that all may know and love Him.
Never desire special praise or love, for that belongs to God alone Who has no
equal. Never wish that anyone's affection be centered in you, nor let yourself
be taken up with the love of anyone, but let Jesus be in you and in every good
man. Be pure and free within, unentangled with any creature.
You must bring to God a clean and open heart if you wish to attend and see how
sweet the Lord is. Truly you will never attain this happiness unless His grace
prepares you and draws you on so that you may forsake all things to be united
with Him alone.
When the grace of God comes to a man he can do all things, but when it leaves
him he becomes poor and weak, abandoned, as it were, to affliction. Yet, in this
condition he should not become dejected or despair. On the contrary, he should
calmly await the will of God and bear whatever befalls him in praise of Jesus
Christ, for after winter comes summer, after night, the day, and after the
storm, a great calm.
