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The Imitation of Christ
Thomas à Kempis
The Forty-Fourth Chapter
DO NOT BE CONCERNED ABOUT OUTWARD THINGS
THE VOICE OF CHRIST
MY CHILD, there are many matters of which it is well for you to be ignorant, and
to consider yourself as one who is dead upon the earth and to whom the whole
world is crucified. There are many things, too, which it is well to pass by with
a deaf ear, thinking, instead, of what is more to your peace. It is more
profitable to turn away from things which displease you and to leave to every
man his own opinion than to take part in quarrelsome talk. If you stand well
with God and look to His judgment, you will more easily bear being worsted.
THE DISCIPLE
To what have we come, Lord? Behold, we bewail a temporal loss. We labor and fret
for a small gain, while loss of the soul is forgotten and scarcely ever returns
to mind. That which is of little or no value claims our attention, whereas that
which is of highest necessity is neglected -- all because man gives himself
wholly to outward things. And unless he withdraws himself quickly, he willingly
lies immersed in externals.
