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The Imitation of Christ
Thomas à Kempis
The Thirty-Fifth Chapter
THERE IS NO SECURITY FROM TEMPTATION IN THIS LIFE
THE VOICE OF CHRIST
MY CHILD, in this life you are never safe, and as long as you live the weapons
of the spirit will ever be necessary to you. You dwell among enemies. You are
subject to attack from the right and the left. If, therefore, you do not guard
yourself from every quarter with the shield of patience, you will not remain
long unscathed.
Moreover, if you do not steadily set your heart on Me, with a firm will to
suffer everything for My sake, you will not be able to bear the heat of this
battle or to win the crown of the blessed. You ought, therefore, to pass through
all these things bravely and to oppose a strong hand to whatever stands in your
way. For to him who triumphs heavenly bread is given, while for him who is too
lazy to fight there remains much misery.
If you look for rest in this life, how will you attain to everlasting rest?
Dispose yourself, then, not for much rest but for great patience. Seek true
peace, not on earth but in heaven; not in men or in other creatures but in God
alone. For love of God you should undergo all things cheerfully, all labors and
sorrows, temptations and trials, anxieties, weaknesses, necessities, injuries,
slanders, rebukes, humiliations, confusions, corrections, and contempt. For
these are helps to virtue. These are the trials of Christ's recruit. These form
the heavenly crown. For a little brief labor I will give an everlasting crown,
and for passing confusion, glory that is eternal.
Do you think that you will always have spiritual consolations as you desire? My
saints did not always have them. Instead, they had many afflictions, temptations
of various kinds, and great desolation. Yet they bore them all patiently. They
placed their confidence in God rather than in themselves, knowing that the
sufferings of this life are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to
come. And you -- do you wish to have at once that which others have scarcely
obtained after many tears and great labors?
Wait for the Lord, act bravely, and have courage. Do not lose trust. Do not turn
back but devote your body and soul constantly to God's glory. I will reward you
most plentifully. I will be with you in every tribulation.
