Book IV, Chapter I

For a long while shall he be small, and lie grovelling below, whoever he be, that esteemeth any thing great but the One only Infinite Eternal Good

(On these words) — “For a lone while shall he be small, and lie grovelling below, whoever he be, that esteemeth any thing great but the One only Infinite Eternal Good.” B. iii. c. 31.

Question. — Wherein consists true greatness?

Answer. — In approaching as closely as possible to God for God alone being truly great, and the origin of all greatness, if there is anything in man deserving of esteem, it is the resemblance and relation which he may bear to God. We desire, then, to know how man must approach to God, in order to become great; for, amongst many people who embrace virtue, very few are seen to rise from their low estate to any eminent perfection. Most of the servants of God find great difficulty in renouncing creatures, and totally forgetting themselves. Now he is small, according to our Author, who esteemeth any thing great that is less than God.

That which causes us to love God feebly, and to show incredible littleness of mind and heart in His service, is, that we do not know Him sufficiently to desire to be His Alone. Those who have true greatness of soul are persuaded that God is all, and that all that is not God is nothing. Every man protests that he firmly believes this truth, and that he is ready to sign it with his blood, if necessary;

ALL BESIDES NOTHING. 135 but the many who say so are very far from showing by their works that they are perfectly convinced of it. Let us see, then, in what manner we must believe that God is all, and that the rest is nothing let us see afterwards what we must do when we are persuaded of it, and how far we must go in order to become great, in such a manner as to acquire that most glorious union with God.

This sort of greatness consists in this, that the man who has conceived a high idea of the Divine Majesty thinks nothing important which does not bear some relation to the will of God or to His glory; consequently he sets no value on any thing human, however great, however lofty it appears, since it is but a created thing; therefore he proposes no design to himself, moves not his foot, writes not a single letter; in a word, does nothing with reflection and deliberate purpose which does not bear some immediate relation to God, or to God’s service. If this were thoroughly understood, nothing more would be wanting to raise man to a high degree of virtue. Such are the sentiments of our Author, as may be seen at book iii. chapter 31, from whence I have taken the words which I have placed at the head of this discourse.

In fact, one who is too eager, who speaks or acts precipitately, who does not detach himself from all human interests, who likes to gratify himself, though he avoids the grosser faults; such a man, I say, has a low mind, and only crawls on the earth; his thoughts do not ascend to Heaven; he is subject to a thousand weaknesses, which keep him far off from the sublime perfections of the children of God, whose only care is to tend continually upward, and to be doing so every instant of their life. This is true greatness a man is great when he suffers in himself nothing abject or earthly; when walking in the pren 2

136 TRUE GREATNESS TO BELIEVE GOD TO BE ALL, sence of God, he deems it unworthy of himself to; think of anything besides Him.;

This doctrine appears impracticable to some; others think it chimerical. 1, for one, am per- suaded that all who have rightly read the book which we are explaining, and who know what is i meant by the spiritual life, judge quite otherwise; for the sentiments of spiritual persons are far from. being agreed with the ideas of those who are little in the habit of prayer. I say, then, that a soul ear- i nestly desiring perfection, and fully resolved to break through all the obstacles which she may find in the way that leads thither, will never feel more esteem or affection for any created thing, than what arises from the principles of faith, hope, and charity; for if she once gives some human affection admission to her heart, she will become as little and as bounded as the object of her love.

It is a folly for those who wish to become perfect, to run eagerly to see rare and curious things. They go under specious pretences, but after all they seek only to -satisfy their curiosity; and not having God in their heart, they desire to fill it with creatures. For this reason they praise highly what they have seen, and speak of it with much exaggeration. I The more gross praise natural talents, eloquence, a lively imagination, and other such natural advantages, which they often value more highly than the advantages of Grace. The cause of their error is, that they have not a high idea of these Divine gifts, and having besides but little minds, when they come to compare themselves with those who shine in the world, they cannot refrain from admiring and lauding those qualities of which themselves are destitute. It is on the same principle that they value so highly the dignities, the riches, the fine palaces, the superb train of the great; that they hurry to see the pompous

ALL BESIDES NOTHING.

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i entries of princes and other such magnificent shows, and are vexed if they lose the opportunity of being t present at one of these sights. All this shows clearly the littleness of the heart of man, who has neither light enough to perceive God, nor strength and virtue to draw near to Him.

As for those who are somewhat more spiritualminded, truly they do not entirely forget to praise the Author and Dispenser of these natural advantages; but as for enjoying God, they are very far from it, judging of things only by their senses, and according to the false ideas of the world. Those, on the other hand, who hold themselves close to God, and discourse familiarly with Him, and who know by their own experience how gracious He is, despise in their hearts all those things that the others value and exalt excessively. Thus a man, illuminated by Heavenly light, and governed by the true Spirit of Grace,

• thinks only of God, rejoices in none beside Him, and regards all other things as nothing. Not that he is unwilling to converse with his fellow-creatures, but he is led to do so only by the high value -that he sets on the salvation of a soul, and on the Blood of Christ Who redeemed it by His Death. He praises nothing, he proposes nothing to himself, that does not either come purely from God, or lead to God.

The man who acts otherwise finds himself, as it were, surrounded by thick darkness, which he cannot disperse but by the exercise of prayer; for it is by that we are filled with a supernatural light, whose principal effect is to open and enlarge the heart, that it may raise itself towards God, and love and esteem eternal things alone. God having then given us by Hi3 Grace the means of labouring for the acquisition of the good things of eternity, we cannot lose our time in seeking others without making ourselves n 3

138 TRUE GREATNESS TO HOLD GOD TO BE ALL.

miserable; for from the instant that we conceive a high idea of human things, our mind becomes darkened, and our heart narrowed. For this cause we are sensible to the smallest occurrences, and are troubled with little reason; whereas, if our souls were great, God would be always present with us, and knowing Him as He is, even enjoying Him frequently, we should feel only a distaste for all besides, and thereby should extinguish in ourselves our natural passion for seeing all, knowing all, possessing all.

What is the reason that a lady takes so much pleasure in adorning herself? Why does a man rejoice so much to see himself caressed by a great personage, or praised by men of talent? These things proceed only from littleness of heart; for if this man and this woman comprehended how wonderful is the greatness of God, how precious the good things of eternity; if they had even in some sort made trial of these good things, as those do who are closely united with God, they would carefully avoid attaching themselves to anything so contemptible as the vain splendour and false honour of the world. This is a general rule. The man who cannot accustom himself to remain unmoved by passing good and evil, will always crawl on the earth and in the dust; he will never rise above visible things; he will turn with every wind, and receive all kinds of impressions; be will be vexed for three days by one annoying word spoken to him; in a word, he will be in perpetual agitation and trouble, — an evident token of a little mind and a feeble spirit.

THE SPIRITUAL HEED NOT FLEETING WORDS. 139