Bought this book donkey years ago*, been collecting dust in one corner of my room. Finally guilt pushed me to turn open the pages 2 days ago, and the reading on one of the chapters blew my mind away. Here's the piece that I read:
The Book of Internal Consolations, The Twenty-Sixth Chapter
Of the Excellence of a Free Mind, Which Is Sooner Gained By Humble Prayer Than by Reading
O Lord, it is the work of a perfect man, never to relax his mind from attentive thought of heavenly things, and so to pass amid many cares, as it were, without care; not as one destitute of all feeling, but by the prerogative of a free mind, adhering to no creature with inordinate affection.
2. I beseech thee, my most gracious God, preserve me from the cares of this life, lest I should be too much entangled by them; also from the many necessities of the body, lest I should be captivated by pleasure; and from whatever is an obstacle to the soul, lest being broken with troubles, I should be overthrown.
I speak not of those things which world vanity so earnestly covets, but of those miseries, which as punishments, and as the common curse of mortality,1 do weigh down and hinder the soul of thy servant, that it cannot enter into the freedom of the spirit so often as it would.
3 O my God, thou sweetness ineffable, make bitter for me all carnal comfort, which draws me away from the love of eternal things, and in evil manner allures me to itself by setting before me some present delightful good.
Let me not be overcome, O Lord, let me not be overcome by flesh and blood;2 let not the world and the short glory thereof deceive me; let not the devil and his subtle craftiness supplant me.
Gives me strength to resist, patience to endure, and constancy to persevere.
Give me, instead of all the comforts of the world, the most sweet balm of thy Spirit, and instead of carnal love, influence with the love of thy name.
4 Behold! meat, drinks, clothes, and other necessaries for the maintenance of the body, are burdensome unto a fervent soul.
Grant me to use such refreshments moderately and not to become entangled with an over-great desire for them.
It is not lawful to cast away all things, because nature is to be sustained; but to desire superfluities, and those things that are merely for delight, the holy law forbiddeth us; for then the flesh would rebel against the spirit. Herein, I beseech thee, let thy hand govern me and teach me, that I may not exceed the due bounds.
1Gen. 3:17; Rom. 7:11
2Rom. 12:21
May the above passage bless you this day!
* think it was either late last year or early this year ...
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(Above passage taken from Bechtel, Paul M. (Ed.), The Imitation of Christ (by) Thomas à Kempis, Moody Paperback Edition, Chicago, U.S.A., 1984.)
For more info on Thomas à Kempis, goto http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_A_Kempis
For online reading of modernised rendition of "The Imitation of Christ", goto http://www.ccel.org/ccel/kempis/imitation.all.html
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