our kind sponsors.
The Imitation of Christ
Thomas à Kempis
The Twenty-Fifth Chapter
THE BASIS OF FIRM PEACE OF HEART AND TRUE PROGRESS
THE VOICE OF CHRIST
MY CHILD, I have said: "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you: not as
the world giveth, do I give unto you."[34]
All men desire peace but all do not care for the things that go to make true
peace. My peace is with the humble and meek of heart: your peace will be in much
patience. If you hear Me and follow My voice, you will be able to enjoy much
peace.
THE DISCIPLE
What, then, shall I do, Lord?
THE VOICE OF CHRIST
Watch yourself in all things, in what you do and what you say. Direct your every
intention toward pleasing Me alone, and desire nothing outside of Me. Do not be
rash in judging the deeds and words of others, and do not entangle yourself in
affairs that are not your own. Thus, it will come about that you will be
disturbed little and seldom.
Yet, never to experience any disturbance or to suffer any hurt in heart or body
does not belong to this present life, but rather to the state of eternal rest.
Do not think, therefore, that you have found true peace if you feel no
depression, or that all is well because you suffer no opposition. Do not think
that all is perfect if everything happens just as you wish. And do not imagine
yourself great or consider yourself especially beloved if you are filled with
great devotion and sweetness. For the true lover of virtue is not known by these
things, nor do the progress and perfection of a man consist in them.
THE DISCIPLE
In what do they consist, Lord?
THE VOICE OF CHRIST
They consist in offering yourself with all your heart to the divine will, not
seeking what is yours either in small matters or great ones, either in temporal
or eternal things, so that you will preserve equanimity and give thanks in both
prosperity and adversity, seeing all things in their proper light.
If you become so brave and long-suffering in hope that you can prepare your
heart to suffer still more even when all inward consolation is withdrawn, and if
you do not justify yourself as though you ought not be made to suffer such great
things, but acknowledge Me to be just in all My works and praise My holy name --
then you will walk in the true and right path of peace, then you may have sure
hope of seeing My face again in joy. If you attain to complete contempt of self,
then know that you will enjoy an abundance of peace, as much as is possible in
this earthly life.
