Of the Imitation of Christ/Book I/Chapter XXII
CHAPTER XXII.
OF THE CONSIDERATION OF HUMAN MISERY.
ISERABLE thou art, wheresoever thou be, or whithersoever thou turnest, unless thou turn thyself unto God.
Why art thou troubled when things succeed not as thou wouldst or desirest? For who is he that hath all things according to his mind? neither I nor thou, nor any man upon earth.
There is none in this world, even though he be king or bishop, without some tribulation or perplexity.
Who is then in the best case? even he who is able to suffer something for God.
2. Many weak and infirm persons say, Behold! what a happy life such an one leads; how wealthy, how great he is, in what power and dignity!
But lift up thine eyes to the riches of Heaven, and thou shalt see that all the goods of this life are nothing to be accounted of. They are very uncertain, and rather burdensome than otherwise, because they are never possessed without anxiety and fear.
Man's happiness consisteth not in having abundance of temporal goods, but a moderate portion is sufficient for him.
Truly it is misery even to live upon the earth.
The more spiritual a man desires to be, the more bitter does this present life become to him; because he sees more clearly and perceives more sensibly the defects of human corruption.
For to eat and to drink, to sleep and to watch, to labour and to rest, and to be subject to other necessities of nature, is doubtless a great misery and affliction to a religious man, who would gladly be set loose, and freed from all sin.
3. For the inward man is much weighed down by the necessities of the body.
Therefore the Prophet prayed with great devotion to be enabled to be free from them, saying, "Bring thou me out of my distress."
But woe be to them that know not their own misery; and a greater woe to them that love this miserable and corrupt life!
For there be some who so much doat upon it, that although by labour or by begging they can scarce get necessaries, yet if they might but live here always, they would care nothing for the kingdom of God.
O how senseless are these men and unbelieving in heart, who lie so deeply sunk in the earth, that they can relish nothing but carnal things.
But miserable as they are, they shall in the end feel to their cost how vile and how nothing that was which they loved.
Whereas the saints of God and all the devout friends of Christ regarded not those things which pleased the flesh, nor those which were in repute in this life, but longed after the everlasting riches with their whole hope and earnest effort.
Their whole desire was carried upwards to things durable and invisible, that the desire of things visible might not draw them to things below.
5. my brother, cast not away thy confidence of making progress in godliness; there is yet time, the hour is not yet passed.
Why wilt thou defer thy good purpose from day to day? Arise and begin in this very instant, and say, Now is the time to be doing, now is the time to be striving, now is the fit time to amend myself.
When thou art ill at ease and much troubled, then is the time of earning thy reward.
Thou must pass through fire and water before thou come to a wealthy place.
Unless thou doest violence to thyself, thou shalt never get the victory over sin.
So long as we carry about us this frail body of ours, we can never be without sin, nor live without weariness and pain.
We would gladly have rest from all misery, but seeing that by sin we have lost our innocency, we have together with that lost also the true felicity.
Therefore it becomes us to have patience, and to wait for the mercy of God, till this tyranny be overpast, and mortality be swallowed up of life.
6. O how great is human frailty, which is always prone to evil!
To-day thou confessest thy sins, and to-morrow thou committest the very same which thou hast confessed.
Now, thou art purposed to look well unto thy ways, and within a while thou so behavest thyself, as though thou hadst never any such purpose at all.
Good cause have we therefore to humble ourselves, and never to have any great conceit of ourselves, since we are so frail and so inconstant.
That also may quickly be lost by our own negligence, which by the grace of God, with much labour we have scarce at length obtained.
7. What will become of us in the end, who begin so early to wax lukewarm!
Woe be unto us, if we will so give ourselves unto ease as if all were now peace and safety, when as yet there appeareth no sign of true holiness in our conversation.
We have much need like young novices to be newly instructed again to good life, if haply there be some hope of future amendment, and greater proficiency in things spiritual.