A Little Book of Eternal Wisdom [27]
presently revert to it in all thy sufferings, as thus thou
canst never lose courage, and wilt forget all thy sorrow; and further, as an
answer to the complaint of foolish men who say that I allow My friends to
fare so hard. See then what a difference there is between My friendship and
the friendship of this temporal state; and to speak according to the truth,
how much better than others My friends fare at My hands. I will say nothing
of the great trouble, labour, and many a severe tribulation in which they
swim and wade, night and day; only this, that they are so blinded they do
not understand it. It is indeed My eternal economy that a mind not regulated
should be a sharp torment and heavy burden to itself. My friends have bodily
distress, but then they have peace of heart. The friends of the world hunt
after bodily comfort and ease, but in their hearts, their souls and minds,
they gain nothing but trouble and vexation.
The Servant.--Those persons, Lord, are out of their right senses, and
are raving, who would needs compare Thy faithful friendship and the world's
friendship together. That they should do so because Thou hast few friends
who have no suffering to complain of, is the fault of their great blindness.
O Lord, how very soft and gentle is Thy Fatherly rod! Blessed is he on whom
Thou sparest it not. Lord, I now plainly see that tribulation does not
proceed from Thy harshness, but rather from Thy tender love. Let no one say
for the future that Thou hast forgotten Thy friends. Those hast Thou
forgotten (for Thou hast despaired of them), on whom Thou dost spare
chastisement here below. Lord, in all fairness those ought not to have
joyous days, nor pleasures, nor comfort here below, whom Thou dost intend to
shield above from eternal misery, and endow with everlasting delight. Grant,
O Lord, that these two visions may never disappear from the eyes of my
heart, so that I never may lose Thy friendship.
CHAPTER XIII. On The Immeasurable Dignity of Temporal Suffering
The Servant.--Tell me now, tender Lord, what this suffering is which
Thou thinkest so very profitable and good?
Eternal Wisdom.--What I mean is every kind of suffering, whether
willingly accepted or unwillingly incurred--as when a man makes a virtue of
necessity in not wishing to be exempt from suffering without My will, and
ordering it, in humble patience, to My eternal praise; and the more
willingly he does this, the more precious and agreeable it is to Me.
Touching such kinds of suffering, hear further, and write it down in the
bottom of thy heart, and keep it as a sign to set before the spiritual eyes
of thy soul. My dwelling is in the pure soul as in a paradise of delights,
for which reason I cannot endure that she should lovingly and longingly
attach herself to anything. But, from her very nature, she is inclined to
pernicious lusts, and therefore I encompass her path with thorns. I garnish
all her outlets with adversity, whether she like it or not, so that she may
not escape from Me; her ways I strew with tribulation, so that she may not
set the foot of her heart's desire anywhere except in the loftiness of My
divine nature. And if all hearts were but one heart, they would not be able
to bear even that least reward which I certainly will give for the suffering
endured by anyone for love of Me. Such is My eternal order in all nature,
from which I do not swerve; what is precious and good must be earned with
bitterness; he who recoils at thus, let him recoil; many are indeed called,
but few are chosen.
The Servant.--It may well be, Lord, that suffering is an infinite good,
provided it be not without measure, and not too dreadful and overwhelming.
Lord, Thou alone knowest all hidden things, and didst create all things in
weight, in number and measure; Thou knowest also that my sufferings are
measureless, that they are wholly beyond my strength. Lord, is there anyone
in all this world who has constantly more painful sufferings than I? They
are to me invincible--how am I
canst never lose courage, and wilt forget all thy sorrow; and further, as an
answer to the complaint of foolish men who say that I allow My friends to
fare so hard. See then what a difference there is between My friendship and
the friendship of this temporal state; and to speak according to the truth,
how much better than others My friends fare at My hands. I will say nothing
of the great trouble, labour, and many a severe tribulation in which they
swim and wade, night and day; only this, that they are so blinded they do
not understand it. It is indeed My eternal economy that a mind not regulated
should be a sharp torment and heavy burden to itself. My friends have bodily
distress, but then they have peace of heart. The friends of the world hunt
after bodily comfort and ease, but in their hearts, their souls and minds,
they gain nothing but trouble and vexation.
The Servant.--Those persons, Lord, are out of their right senses, and
are raving, who would needs compare Thy faithful friendship and the world's
friendship together. That they should do so because Thou hast few friends
who have no suffering to complain of, is the fault of their great blindness.
O Lord, how very soft and gentle is Thy Fatherly rod! Blessed is he on whom
Thou sparest it not. Lord, I now plainly see that tribulation does not
proceed from Thy harshness, but rather from Thy tender love. Let no one say
for the future that Thou hast forgotten Thy friends. Those hast Thou
forgotten (for Thou hast despaired of them), on whom Thou dost spare
chastisement here below. Lord, in all fairness those ought not to have
joyous days, nor pleasures, nor comfort here below, whom Thou dost intend to
shield above from eternal misery, and endow with everlasting delight. Grant,
O Lord, that these two visions may never disappear from the eyes of my
heart, so that I never may lose Thy friendship.
CHAPTER XIII. On The Immeasurable Dignity of Temporal Suffering
The Servant.--Tell me now, tender Lord, what this suffering is which
Thou thinkest so very profitable and good?
Eternal Wisdom.--What I mean is every kind of suffering, whether
willingly accepted or unwillingly incurred--as when a man makes a virtue of
necessity in not wishing to be exempt from suffering without My will, and
ordering it, in humble patience, to My eternal praise; and the more
willingly he does this, the more precious and agreeable it is to Me.
Touching such kinds of suffering, hear further, and write it down in the
bottom of thy heart, and keep it as a sign to set before the spiritual eyes
of thy soul. My dwelling is in the pure soul as in a paradise of delights,
for which reason I cannot endure that she should lovingly and longingly
attach herself to anything. But, from her very nature, she is inclined to
pernicious lusts, and therefore I encompass her path with thorns. I garnish
all her outlets with adversity, whether she like it or not, so that she may
not escape from Me; her ways I strew with tribulation, so that she may not
set the foot of her heart's desire anywhere except in the loftiness of My
divine nature. And if all hearts were but one heart, they would not be able
to bear even that least reward which I certainly will give for the suffering
endured by anyone for love of Me. Such is My eternal order in all nature,
from which I do not swerve; what is precious and good must be earned with
bitterness; he who recoils at thus, let him recoil; many are indeed called,
but few are chosen.
The Servant.--It may well be, Lord, that suffering is an infinite good,
provided it be not without measure, and not too dreadful and overwhelming.
Lord, Thou alone knowest all hidden things, and didst create all things in
weight, in number and measure; Thou knowest also that my sufferings are
measureless, that they are wholly beyond my strength. Lord, is there anyone
in all this world who has constantly more painful sufferings than I? They
are to me invincible--how am I