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Ember
PT

Peace

no. By keeping guard over the senses, which are the gates of the soul, we keep also and increase its tranquillity and purity.

in. Man would never lose peace if he forgot and cast aside his thoughts and notions, and withdrew from the sight, hearing, and conversation of men so far as he well may.

  1. If we forget all created things, there is then nothing to disturb our peace ; nothing to excite the desires that disturb it ; for, as the proverb says, What the eye hath not seen, the heart doth not desire.

  2. The restless and perturbed soul, the passions and desires of which are not wholly mortified, is, as such, incapacitated for spiritual good, for that enters only into the soul which is under control and ordered in peace.

  3. Be assured of this : God reigns only in the peaceful and unselfish soul.

  4. Be tranquil ; put away superfluous thoughts, and make light of whatever may happen ; so shall your service be pleasing unto God, and you shall rejoice in Him.

  5. Keep your heart in peace ; let nothing in this world disturb it : all things have an end.

  6. Be not made sad by the adverse events of this life, for you know not the good they bring with them, ordained in the judgments of God, for the everlasting joy of the elect.

  7. In all circumstances, however hard they may be, we should rejoice, rather than be cast down, that we may not lose the greatest good, the peace and tranquillity of our soul.

  8. If the whole world and all that is in it were thrown into confusion, disquietude on that account would be vanity, because that disquietude would do more harm than good.

  9. To endure all things with an equable and peaceful mind, not only brings with it many blessings to the soul, but also enables us, in the midst of our difficulties, to have a clear judgment about them, and to minister the fitting remedy for them.

  10. It is not the will of God that the soul should be troubled by anything, or that it should be afflicted ; for if men are afflicted because of the adversities of this world, that is the effect of their being weak in virtue ; for the soul of the perfect rejoices in that which gives pain to the soul of the imperfect.

  11. The heavens are stedfast, not subject to generation ; and souls which are of a heavenly nature are stedfast, not subject to the generation of desires, nor of anything of that kind : they are in some measure like unto God, Who never changes.

Chapter 8 of 30