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The Imitation of Christ
Thomas à Kempis
The Twelfth Chapter
ACQUIRING PATIENCE IN THE FIGHT AGAINST CONCUPISCENCE
THE DISCIPLE
PATIENCE, O Lord God, is very necessary for me, I see, because there are many
adversities in this life. No matter what plans I make for my own peace, my life
cannot be free from struggle and sorrow.
THE VOICE OF CHRIST
My child, you are right, yet My wish is not that you seek that peace which is
free from temptations or meets with no opposition, but rather that you consider
yourself as having found peace when you have been tormented with many
tribulations and tried with many adversities.
If you say that you cannot suffer much, how will you endure the fire of
purgatory? Of two evils, the lesser is always to be chosen. Therefore, in order
that you may escape the everlasting punishments to come, try to bear present
evils patiently for the sake of God.
Do you think that men of the world have no suffering, or perhaps but little? Ask
even those who enjoy the most delights and you will learn otherwise. "But," you
will say, "they enjoy many pleasures and follow their own wishes; therefore they
do not feel their troubles very much." Granted that they do have whatever they
wish, how long do you think it will last? Behold, they who prosper in the world
shall perish as smoke, and there shall be no memory of their past joys. Even in
this life they do not find rest in these pleasures without bitterness,
weariness, and fear. For they often receive the penalty of sorrow from the very
thing whence they believe their happiness comes. And it is just. Since they seek
and follow after pleasures without reason, they should not enjoy them without
shame and bitterness.
How brief, how false, how unreasonable and shameful all these pleasures are! Yet
in their drunken blindness men do not understand this, but like brute beasts
incur death of soul for the miserly enjoyment of a corruptible life.
Therefore, My child, do not pursue your lusts, but turn away from your own will.
"Seek thy pleasure in the Lord and He will give thee thy heart's desires."[33]
If you wish to be truly delighted and more abundantly comforted by Me, behold,
in contempt of all worldly things and in the cutting off of all base pleasures
shall your blessing be, and great consolation shall be given you. Further, the
more you withdraw yourself from any solace of creatures, the sweeter and
stronger comfort will you find in Me.
At first you will not gain these blessings without sadness and toil and
conflict. Habit already formed will resist you, but it shall be overcome by a
better habit. The flesh will murmur against you, but it will be bridled by
fervor of spirit. The old serpent will sting and trouble you, but prayer will
put him to flight and by steadfast, useful toil the way will be closed to him.
