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The Imitation of Christ
Thomas à Kempis
The Thirty-Fourth Chapter
GOD IS SWEET ABOVE ALL THINGS AND IN ALL THINGS TO THOSE WHO LOVE HIM
THE DISCIPLE
BEHOLD, my God and my all! What more do I wish for; what greater happiness can I
desire? O sweet and delicious word! But sweet only to him who loves it, and not
to the world or the things that are in the world.
My God and my all! These words are enough for him who understands, and for him
who loves it is a joy to repeat them often. For when You are present, all things
are delightful; when You are absent, all things become loathsome. It is You Who
give a heart tranquillity, great peace and festive joy. It is You Who make us
think well of all things, and praise You in all things. Without You nothing can
give pleasure for very long, for if it is to be pleasing and tasteful, Your
grace and the seasoning of Your wisdom must be in it. What is there that can
displease him whose happiness is in You? And, on the contrary, what can satisfy
him whose delight is not in You?
The wise men of the world, the men who lust for the flesh, are wanting in Your
wisdom, because in the world is found the utmost vanity, and in the flesh is
death. But they who follow You by disdaining worldly things and mortifying the
flesh are known to be truly wise, for they are transported from vanity to truth,
from flesh to spirit. By such as these God is relished, and whatever good is
found in creatures they turn to praise of the Creator. But great -- yes, very
great, indeed -- is the difference between delight in the Creator and in the
creature, in eternity and in time, in Light uncreated and in the light that is
reflected.
O Light eternal, surpassing all created brightness, flash forth the lightning
from above and enlighten the inmost recesses of my heart. Cleanse, cheer,
enlighten, and vivify my spirit with all its powers, that it may cleave to You
in ecstasies of joy. Oh, when will that happy and wished-for hour come, that You
may fill me with Your presence and become all in all to me? So long as this is
not given me, my joy will not be complete.
The old man, alas, yet lives within me. He has not yet been entirely crucified;
he is not yet entirely dead. He still lusts strongly against the spirit, and he
will not leave the kingdom of my soul in peace. But You, Who can command the
power of the sea and calm the tumult of its waves, arise and help me. Scatter
the nations that delight in war; crush them in Your sight. Show forth I beg,
Your wonderful works and let Your right hand be glorified, because for me there
is no other hope or refuge except in You, O Lord, my God.
