“Those who do not obey the Gospel shall suffer eternal punishment” (2 Thes, i.).
“Momentary is that which delights, eternal is that which tortures" (St. Chrysostom).
EIGHTH DAY: ON HEAVEN.
1. Heaven, thou glorious state-no heart can conceive, no tongue can describe, what thou art! Exemption from all that is evil-assemblage of all that is good-masterpiece of God's omnipotence--the price of the blood of Jesus --and more than man can desire.
2. To see God clearly, and as he is in his glory; to love God without measure; to possess God without ever fearing to lose him; to be happy in the felicity of God himself-such is the object of my hopes. But a day or two of pilgrimage and exile, and then I shall be with him for ever.
3. What matters it how we fare here below, provided we be with Jesus for all eternity? Can I justly complain that a never-ending happiness should cost me so little? The martyrs purchased heaven at the price of their blood, and thought it was given them for nothing. Shall not I, then, sacrifice my corrupt will for it? O, happy eternity! if men only knew what thou art worth.
[Excite within yourself a great desire of heaven, and behold the earth with a proportionable contempt. Were you filled with a proper sense of it, nothing here below could allure or disturb you.]
“ I shall be satisfied when thy glory shall appear” (Psalm xvi.) “If the labour terrifies, the reward invites” (St. Bernard).
NINTH DAY: ON THE PRESENCE OF GOD.
1. God, at this moment. beholds me as if I were alone in the world; or, rather, he is within me as an eye infinitely enlightened, which observes me attentively, and which nothing can escape. He sees as clearly as he comprehends himself, and with as intense an application, as if he ceased to comprehend himself in order to study me.
2. Ought I not to be infinitely more ashamed that my sins should appear in his sight, than that they should be exposed to the eyes of the whole world? Would I commit in the presence of a servant what I dare commit before the King of kings? Oh, what blindness! to fear so much the eyes of men, and so little the eyes of God.
3. The most obscure darkness can never conceal me from light itself; the most distant and solitary retreats are always filled with the Divine Majesty. Let me shun, as much as I please, the sight and company of men, I shall find God every where.
[Put yourself in the presence of God, and see whether there be any thing in you that may offend his eyes. The most powerful remedy against sin is, to say frequently within yourself, God is looking at me. There needs no more to restrain you in the greatest violence of temptation.]
