A Little Book of Eternal Wisdom [28]
to endure them? Lord, if Thou wouldst send me
ordinary sufferings, I could bear them, but I do not see how I can ever
endure such extraordinary sufferings as these--sufferings which in so hidden
a manner oppress my heart and soul, which only Thou canst perfectly
understand.
Eternal Wisdom.--Every sick man imagines that his own sickness is the
worst, and every man in distress, his own distress the greatest. Had I sent
thee other sufferings it would have been the same. Conform thyself freely to
My will under every pain which I ordain thee to suffer, without excepting
this or the other suffering. Dost thou not know that I only desire what is
best for thee, even with as kindly a feeling as thou thyself? Hence it is
that I am the Eternal Wisdom, and that I know better than thou what is for
thy good. Hence it is that thou mayst have felt that the sufferings which I
send are much more exquisite, and penetrate deeper, and operate better, for
him who does them justice, than all self-chosen sufferings. Why then dost
thou so complain to Me? Address Me rather as follows: O my most faithful
Father, do to me at all times what Thou wilt!
The Servant.--O Lord, it is so easy to talk, but the reality is so
difficult to endure, for it is so very painful.
Eternal Wisdom.--If suffering gave no pain, it could not becalled
suffering. There is nothing more painful than suffering, and nothing more
joyful than to have suffered. Suffering is a short pain and a long joy.
Suffering gives to the sufferer pain here and joy hereinafter. Suffering
kills suffering. Suffering is ordained that the sufferer may not suffer
eternally. Hadst thou so much spiritual sweetness and divine consolation and
heavenly delight as, at all times, to overflow with the divine dew, it would
not be for thee so very meritorious of itself, since, for all this together,
I should not have to thank thee so much; it could not exculpate thee so much
as an affectionate suffering or patience in adversity, in which thou
sufferest for My sake. Sooner will ten be perverted and ruined in the midst
of a great delight and joyous sweetness than one in the midst of constant
suffering and adversity. If thou hadst as much science as all the
astronomers, if thou couldst discourse as ably of God as all the tongues of
men and angels, and didst possess the treasures of knowledge of all the
masters, not all this could avail to advance thee in a good life, so much as
if thou didst give thyself up, and didst abandon thyself in all thy
sufferings to God; for the former is common to the good and the bad, but the
latter is proper to My elect alone. If anyone were able rightly to weigh
time and eternity, he ought rather to desire to lie in a fiery furnace for a
hundred years than to be deprived in eternity of the smallest reward for the
smallest suffering; for this has an end, but the other is without end.
The Servant.--Ah, sweet and dear Lord, how like a sweet harp are these
words to a suffering mortal! Lord, Lord, wouldst Thou but cheer me thus and
come to visit me in my sufferings, I should be glad to suffer; it would then
be better for me to suffer than not to suffer.
Eternal Wisdom.--Now, then, hearken to the sweet music of the distended
strings of that Divine harp--a God-suffering man--how richly it sounds, how
sweetly it vibrates. Before the world, suffering is a reproach, but before
Me it is an infinite honour. Suffering is an extinguisher of My wrath, and
an obtainer of My favour. Suffering makes a man in My sight worthy of love,
for the sufferer is like Me. Suffering is a hidden treasure which no one can
make good; and though a man might kneel before Me a hundred years to beg a
friendly suffering, he nevertheless would not earn it. Suffering changes an
earthly man into a heavenly man. Suffering brings with it the estrangement
of the world, but confers, instead, My intimate familiarity. It lessens
delight and increases grace. He to whom I am to show Myself a friend, must
be wholly disclaimed and abandoned by the world.
ordinary sufferings, I could bear them, but I do not see how I can ever
endure such extraordinary sufferings as these--sufferings which in so hidden
a manner oppress my heart and soul, which only Thou canst perfectly
understand.
Eternal Wisdom.--Every sick man imagines that his own sickness is the
worst, and every man in distress, his own distress the greatest. Had I sent
thee other sufferings it would have been the same. Conform thyself freely to
My will under every pain which I ordain thee to suffer, without excepting
this or the other suffering. Dost thou not know that I only desire what is
best for thee, even with as kindly a feeling as thou thyself? Hence it is
that I am the Eternal Wisdom, and that I know better than thou what is for
thy good. Hence it is that thou mayst have felt that the sufferings which I
send are much more exquisite, and penetrate deeper, and operate better, for
him who does them justice, than all self-chosen sufferings. Why then dost
thou so complain to Me? Address Me rather as follows: O my most faithful
Father, do to me at all times what Thou wilt!
The Servant.--O Lord, it is so easy to talk, but the reality is so
difficult to endure, for it is so very painful.
Eternal Wisdom.--If suffering gave no pain, it could not becalled
suffering. There is nothing more painful than suffering, and nothing more
joyful than to have suffered. Suffering is a short pain and a long joy.
Suffering gives to the sufferer pain here and joy hereinafter. Suffering
kills suffering. Suffering is ordained that the sufferer may not suffer
eternally. Hadst thou so much spiritual sweetness and divine consolation and
heavenly delight as, at all times, to overflow with the divine dew, it would
not be for thee so very meritorious of itself, since, for all this together,
I should not have to thank thee so much; it could not exculpate thee so much
as an affectionate suffering or patience in adversity, in which thou
sufferest for My sake. Sooner will ten be perverted and ruined in the midst
of a great delight and joyous sweetness than one in the midst of constant
suffering and adversity. If thou hadst as much science as all the
astronomers, if thou couldst discourse as ably of God as all the tongues of
men and angels, and didst possess the treasures of knowledge of all the
masters, not all this could avail to advance thee in a good life, so much as
if thou didst give thyself up, and didst abandon thyself in all thy
sufferings to God; for the former is common to the good and the bad, but the
latter is proper to My elect alone. If anyone were able rightly to weigh
time and eternity, he ought rather to desire to lie in a fiery furnace for a
hundred years than to be deprived in eternity of the smallest reward for the
smallest suffering; for this has an end, but the other is without end.
The Servant.--Ah, sweet and dear Lord, how like a sweet harp are these
words to a suffering mortal! Lord, Lord, wouldst Thou but cheer me thus and
come to visit me in my sufferings, I should be glad to suffer; it would then
be better for me to suffer than not to suffer.
Eternal Wisdom.--Now, then, hearken to the sweet music of the distended
strings of that Divine harp--a God-suffering man--how richly it sounds, how
sweetly it vibrates. Before the world, suffering is a reproach, but before
Me it is an infinite honour. Suffering is an extinguisher of My wrath, and
an obtainer of My favour. Suffering makes a man in My sight worthy of love,
for the sufferer is like Me. Suffering is a hidden treasure which no one can
make good; and though a man might kneel before Me a hundred years to beg a
friendly suffering, he nevertheless would not earn it. Suffering changes an
earthly man into a heavenly man. Suffering brings with it the estrangement
of the world, but confers, instead, My intimate familiarity. It lessens
delight and increases grace. He to whom I am to show Myself a friend, must
be wholly disclaimed and abandoned by the world.