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The Imitation of Christ
Thomas à Kempis
The Nineteenth Chapter
TRUE PATIENCE IN SUFFERING
THE VOICE OF CHRIST
WHAT are you saying, My child? Think of My suffering and that of the saints, and
cease complaining. You have not yet resisted to the shedding of blood. What you
suffer is very little compared with the great things they suffered who were so
strongly tempted, so severely troubled, so tried and tormented in many ways.
Well may you remember, therefore, the very painful woes of others, that you may
bear your own little ones the more easily. And if they do not seem so small to
you, examine if perhaps your impatience is not the cause of their apparent
greatness; and whether they are great or small, try to bear them all patiently.
The better you dispose yourself to suffer, the more wisely you act and the
greater is the reward promised you. Thus you will suffer more easily if your
mind and habits are diligently trained to it.
Do not say: "I cannot bear this from such a man, nor should I suffer things of
this kind, for he has done me a great wrong. He has accused me of many things of
which I never thought. However, from someone else I will gladly suffer as much
as I think I should."
Such a thought is foolish, for it does not consider the virtue of patience or
the One Who will reward it, but rather weighs the person and the offense
committed. The man who will suffer only as much as seems good to him, who will
accept suffering only from those from whom he is pleased to accept it, is not
truly patient. For the truly patient man does not consider from whom the
suffering comes, whether from a superior, an equal, or an inferior, whether from
a good and holy person or from a perverse and unworthy one; but no matter how
great an adversity befalls him, no matter how often it comes or from whom it
comes, he accepts it gratefully from the hand of God, and counts it a great
gain. For with God nothing that is suffered for His sake, no matter how small,
can pass without reward. Be prepared for the fight, then, if you wish to gain
the victory. Without struggle you cannot obtain the crown of patience, and if
you refuse to suffer you are refusing the crown. But if you desire to be
crowned, fight bravely and bear up patiently. Without labor there is no rest,
and without fighting, no victory.
THE DISCIPLE
O Lord, let that which seems naturally impossible to me become possible through
Your grace. You know that I can suffer very little, and that I am quickly
discouraged when any small adversity arises. Let the torment of tribulation
suffered for Your name be pleasant and desirable to me, since to suffer and be
troubled for Your sake is very beneficial for my soul.
