Book II, Part 2, Chapter 8. A second Advice upon the different Ways of Living there are in the Church

1. Our second advice is to prevent men passing their judgment upon one another, on account of the different ways of living. To this purpose, you must understand, that there being many virtues requisite to a Christian life, some persons are more addicted to some of them, and others to others. For we see some practise those most which have God for their immediate object, and these persons apply themselves for the most part to a contemplative life ; others esteem those virtues best, which make them most serviceable to their neighbor, and those embrace an active life ; others, again, loye those best which put a man most in mind of himself, and these \ irtues belong particularly to a monastical life.

2. Again, all virtuous actions being so many means for the

49 21 obtaining of grace, some men follow one way, and some another, for the acquiring of it ; so that some endeavor to obtain it by fasting, disciplines, and other corporal austerities ; some by alms and works of mercy ; some by continual prayer and meditation ; in this last means, the ways are as many as the methods of praying and meditating are different. So that some make use of this method, and some of that, and as there are many things to be meditated upon, there are also many sorts of meditations. Now that sort is best for each particular person, which he finds most profitable, and which serves best to excite him to devotion.

3. Virtuous persons are subject to a great mistake as to this point, which is, that they who have profited by any one of these means think there is no other way of arriving at God, but that which they have gone. They would fain teach all the world the same, and look upon those as out of the road, who do not go their way, because they imagine • it is the only one to get to heaven. He who is much given to prayer thinks that, without it, it is impossible to be saved ; he that fasts much persuades himself that nothing is to the purpose but fasting ; he that leads a contemplative life fancies every body else to run the hazard ui his salvation ; nay, they carry it so far sometimes, as to have no kind of esteem for an active life. They, on the other side, that have made choice of an active life, and for want of having experienced what passes betwixt God and the soul in the most delightful repose of contemplation, when they see how far they have advanced by their active way of living, lessen as much as they can the contemplative life, and think there is no perfection without a composition of both, as if all the world was to do what they do. A man that makes choice of mental prayer, thinks all other kind of prayer unprofitable ; and he that loves vocal prayer best, says, that since it is more laborious than the other, it must needs be more meritorious.

4. So that every man cries up his own ware, as shopkeepers do, and this without being sensible of it ; with a hidden pride and ignorance, each of them commends himself, by extolling that which he has the greatest stock of. Thus virtues are under the same circumstances as sciences, of which every one praises that he professes, and decries all the rest. The orator says, there is no art in the world to be compared with rhetoric. The astronomer will tell you, there is no science like that which treats of the. heavens and stars. The philosopher says the same of his science. He that gives himself to the study of the Holy Scriptures says much more, and with more reason. The linguist says almost as much as he, because his languages serve for the better understanding of the Scripture. The school-divine must have the first place, or else he will not be satisfied. In fine, there is none of them all without his weighty reasons, to make you believe his sciences better and more necessary than the rest.

5. This, which appears so plainly in sciences, is to be found in virtues, though it does not lie so open; for all the lovers of them desire to choose that which is best, and seek that which suits with their inclinations ; and therefore think, that what fits them best, is best for every body, and what does not agree with them is proper for nobody.

6 Hence spring the judgments made on other men's lives, and the spiritual divisions and schisms among brethren ; one man fancying another is in the wrong, for not taking the same way he does. It was almost such an error the Corinthians lived in ; 2 Cor. xii. They had received several different gifts from God, and every one looked upon his own as the best, and, therefore, they valued themselves above one another. Some preferring the gift of tongues, others that of prophecy, some, again, that of interpreting the Scriptures, others . the working of miracles, and so of the rest. The best remedy that can be given against this mistake is that which the apostle prescribes them in his epistle against that distemper. First, he makes all graces and gifts equal as to their origin, assuring them they are all streams that flow from the same spring, which is the Holy Ghost ; and that, as to this point, they are all of them alike, though they differ among themselves ; the members of a king's body are all a king's members, and of the blood royal, though they are not the same in respect to one another. The apostle says to this purpose, " We have all been baptized in one spirit into one body ;" 1 Cor. xii. 13. So that we all thus far partake of the same honor and glory, as being the members of the same head. For this reason the apostle adds, immediately after, " If the foot should say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body ; is it not, therefore, of the body ? And if the ear should say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body ; is it not, therefore, of the body ?" Ibid, 15, 16. It is plain, then, that as to this we are all equal, because of the unity and fraternity that is in all, notwithstanding the diversity which is in us at the same time.

7. The cause of which is partly nature and partly grace ; we bay it arises from nature, because, though every spiritual being owes its beginning to grace, yet grace, like water received into several vessels, takes several shapes, agreeable to the nature and condition of every one. For some persons are naturally easy and quiet, and, therefore, more fit for a contemplative life ; others are more choleric and active, and, therefore, an active life is best for them ; others are more strong and healthful, and less in love with themselves, so that a laborious, penitential life agrees best with them. God's goodness displays itself in all these particulars much to our admiration ; for he, designing to communicate himself to all, has been pleased to propose several ways to us, for our partaking of this favor, according to the several conditions of men, so that he that cannot go one way may try another.

8. The second cause of this variety is grace ; because the Holy Ghost, who is the Author of it, has thought fit to have this variety in those that belong to him, for the greater perfection and beauty of the church. For as several members and senses are required to the making of a man's body perfect and beautiful, so there must be a great many virtues and graces to make the church so too. For if the faithful were all alike in this respect, how could they be called a body ? " If the whole body," says St. Paul, " should be eyes, where would the hearing be ? If it should be hearing, where would the smelling be ?" Ibid. 17. God has, for this reason, thought fit there should be several members in one body, that so multiplicity and unity meeting together, there might be proportion between several things in one ; and hence comes the perfection and beauty we see in the church. Thus we see there must be this same diversity of voices, yet with concord, that so it may be sweet and harmonious; for if the voices were all of the same pitch, if they were all trebles, all bases or all tenors, how could they make music and harmony ?

9. The same thing appears to our wonder, even in the works of nature, in which the sovereign Artist has intermixed so much variety, by giving every creature its particular qualities and perfections, and has shown so much justice in the distributing of them, that though each particular creature has some kind of advantage or other upon all the rest, yet they do not envy one another, because if any of them is outdone in some things, it excels in others. The peacock is beautiful to the eye, but not delightful to the ear ; the nightingale, on the other side, charms the ear, but does not please the eye ; the horse is good for the race and the camp, but not for the table ; the ox is good for the table and plough, and fit for nothing else ; fruit-trees produce what is good for eating, but are not so fit for building as those trees are which bear no fruit. Thus in all things together we find all things dispersed, but never all together in any one thing ; that by this means the beauty and variety of the universe may be preserved, and the species of things may continue, and they may all be linked to one another, by a mutual and necessary dependence.

10. The same order and beauty that is in the works of nature, God has thought fit should be in those of grace ; and for this reason he has, by his Spirit, ordered such a variety of virtues and graces in his church, that all of them might make a most harmonious concord, a most perfect world, and a most beautiful body composed of different members. We may see the effects of this variety in the different states of men in the church, where some give themselves up to a contemplative life, and others to an active ; some apply themselves to works of obedience, others to penance ; some to prayer, and others to singing ; some to study, that they may be profitable to others ; some to looking after the sick and visiting hospitals: some to relieve the poor and miserable ; some to one kind of good exercise, and some to another.

11. The same variety is to be found in religious houses. Though they all take the road that leads to heaven, yet they do not go all the same way. Some take the way of poverty, others of penance ; some go by the exercises of a contemplative life, and others by those of an active ; some labor for the good of the public, whilst others retire as far from it as they can. Some have ravenues by the rules of their institution, others love poverty better ; some run into the deserts, and others into cities and towns ; and all this out of the motives of religion and charity.

12. We may observe this variety again, not only in the orders and monasteries, but in the particular members of the same, so that some are employed in singing in the choir, others in manual labor; some are studying in their cells, others are hearing confessions in the church, and others are abroad about the affairs of the house. What is all this but several members in one body, and several voices in one concert, that so there may be an exact proportion and beauty in the church ? There is no other reason for putting a great many strings to the same lute, and a great many pipes into the same organ, but to make the music more pleasant, by the variety of the sounds. This is the coat of several colors, which the patriarch Jacob made for his son Joseph. And such were the curtains of the tabernacles, which God commanded Moses to paint and set out with wonderful variety and beauty. Gen. xxxvii. Exod. xxvi. xxxvi.

13. If so, and it is convenient it should be«o, for the beauty and order of the church, why do we not lay aside the vicious custom we have got of detracting from our neighbors, of passing sentence on their actions, and making ourselves judges over other men, because they do not do what we do ? This is destroying the body of the church, rending Joseph's coat, disturbing and despoiling the harmony of the heavenly music : it is like desiring that the members of the church should be all feet, or all hands, or all eyes. But if all the body were eyes, where would the ears be ? and if all were ears, what would become of the eyes ?

14. Thus you see how great a mistake it is to blame another, because he has not what I have, or cannot do what I do ; as it would be in the eyes to despise the feet for not seeing, or the feet to find fault with the eyes for not walking, and bearing th?

whole burthen on them. For it is requisite the feet should take pains, and the eyes should always be at rest; that the former should be always on the ground, and the latter above them, free from dust or any thing that may sully them. Nor are the eyes, notwithstanding their continual repose, less serviceable to the body than the feet that take so much pains. As the steersman in a vessel, that stands at the helm, with his compass before him, does as much good as they that are always on deck or hauling the ropes, that look after the sails or that stand at the pump. On the contrary, he that we think does least in reality does most, because it is not the labor that is taken about a thing, but the value of the thing itself, together with the importance of it, that makes it more or less excellent ; unless w7e will say, that a laborious plain man, for example, does the commonwealth more service than a discreet and prudent statesman, because of the two he works the hardest.

15. He that considers this seriously will leave every one to his calling ; that is, he will let a foot be a foot, and the hand be still a hand, and will never desire that the body should be all foot or all hand. This is what the apostle endeavors to persuade us all to in the epistle above cited ; and it is the advice he gives us in these words: "Let not him that eateth not, judge him that eateth ;" because he that eats may perhaps stand in need of what he eats, and be endowed with some nobler virtue than yours is, and which you want. So that he is not to be blamed by you for eating, since, in all appearance, his other virtues may make him better than you are. For as in music, those notes that are on the lines are as good as those that are between them, so he that eats disturbs the harmony and concord' of the church no more than he that abstains ; nor he that seems to do nothing, any more than he that is always employed, if he spends his leisure time so as to endeavor to make himself serviceable to his neighbor hereafter.

16. St. Bernard advises us against this same fault, when he says, " That none ought to examine into another man's way of life, to pass judgment on it, but those that are judges and rulers in the church; much less is a man to put another person's life in the same scale with his own, for fear it should happen to him as it did to a certain monk, who, being troubled to have his poverty compared with Gregory's riches, heard a voice, which told him he was much richer in a cat he had, than the other with all his wealth ;" Serm. 4. in Cantica.