Of the Imitation of Christ/Book III/Chapter L
CHAPTER L.
HOW A DESOLATE PERSON OUGHT TO PLACE HIMSELF IN THE HANDS OF GOD.
LORD God, holy Father, be Thou blessed both now and for evermore, because as Thou wilt, so is it done, and what Thou doest is good.
Let Thy servant rejoice in Thee, not in himself nor in any thing else; for Thou alone art the true gladness, Thou art my hope and my crown. Thou art my joy and my honour, O Lord.
What hath Thy servant, but what he hath received from Thee, even without any merit of his?
Thine are all things, both what Thou hast given, and what Thou hast made.
I am poor, and in trouble, from my youth: and sometimes my soul is sorrowful even unto tears; sometimes also it is disturbed by reason of sufferings which hang over me.
2. I long after the joy of peace, the peace of Thy children I earnestly crave, who are fed by Thee in the light of Thy comfort.
If Thou give peace, if Thou pour into my heart holy joy, the soul of Thy servant shall be full of melody, and shall become devout in Thy praise.
But if Thou withdraw Thyself, he will not be able to run the way of Thy commandments; but rather he will bow his knees, and smite his breast, because it is not now with him as it was in times past, when Thy candle shined upon his head, and under the shadow of Thy wings he was protected from the temptations which assaulted him.
3. O righteous Father, and ever to be praised, the hour is come that Thy servant is to be proved.
O beloved Father, meet and right it is that in this hour Thy servant should suffer somewhat for Thy sake.
O Father, evermore to be honoured, the hour is come, which from all eternity Thou didst foreknow should come; that for a short time Thy servant should outwardly be oppressed, but inwardly should ever live with Thee.
That He should be for a little while despised and humbled, and in the sight of men should fail, and be wasted with sufferings and languors; that he might rise again with Thee in the morning dawn of the new light, and be glorified in heaven.
Holy Father, thou hast so appointed it, and so wilt have it; and that is fulfilled which Thyself hast commanded.
4. For this is a favour to thy friend, that for love of Thee he may suffer and be afflicted in the world, how often soever and by whom soever Thou permittest such trials to befall him.
Without Thy counsel and providence, and without cause, nothing cometh to pass in the earth.
It is good for me, Lord, that Thou hast humbled me, that I may learn Thy righteous judgments, and may cast away all haughtiness of heart and presumption.
It is profitable for me, that shame hath covered my face, that I may seek to Thee for consolation rather than to men.
I have learned also hereby to dread Thine unsearchable judgments, who afflictest the just with the wicked, though not without equity.
5. I give Thee thanks, for that Thou hast not spared my sins, but hast worn me down with bitter stripes, inflicting sorrows and sending anxieties upon me within and without.
There is none else under heaven who can comfort me, but Thou only, O Lord my God, the heavenly physician of souls, Who woundest and healest, Who bringest down to hell and bringest back again.
Thy discipline over me, and Thy rod itself shall instruct me.
6. Behold, O beloved Father, I am in Thy hands, I bow myself under the rod of Thy correction.
Strike my back and my neck, that my crookedness may be conformed to Thy will.
Make me a dutiful and humble disciple of Thine, that I may be ready at every beck of Thy pleasure.
Unto Thee I commend myself and all mine to be corrected: better it is to be punished here than hereafter.
Thou knowest everything, and there is nothing in the conscience of man which can be hidden from Thee.
Before any thing is done, Thou knowest that it will come to pass, and hast no need that any should teach Thee, or inform Thee of those things which are being done on the earth.
Thou knowest what is expedient for my spiritual progress, and how greatly tribulation serves to scour off the rust of sins.
Do with me according to Thy good pleasure, and disdain me not for my sinful life, known to none so thoroughly and clearly as to Thee alone.
7. Grant me, O Lord, to know that which is worth knowing, to love that which is worth loving, to praise that which pleaseth Thee most, to esteem that highly which to Thee is precious, to abhor that which in Thy sight is filthy and unclean.
Suffer me not to judge according to the sight of the eyes, nor to give sentence according to the hearing of the ears; but with a true judgment to discern between things visible and spiritual, and above all to be ever searching after the good pleasure of thy will.
8. The minds of men are often deceived in their judgments; the lovers of the world too are deceived in loving only things visible.
What is a man ever the better, for being by man esteemed great.
The deceitful in flattering the deceitful, the vain man in extolling the vain, the blind in commending the blind, the weak in magnifying the weak, deceiveth him; and in truth doth rather put him to shame, while he so vainly praiseth him.
For, said S. Francis, what every one is in Thy sight that he is, and no more.
