CHAPTER XV.

GOD IS TO BE LOVED WITHOUT MEASURE, BUT MEN WITHIN LIMITS.

THE more free thou art interiorly from the burden of passing things, and the more simple are thy affections, the more easily and happily wilt thou be able to devote thyself to God. Whatever is sought for, except God, occupies the mind, but satisfies it not. God alone will fulfil thy desires; in God alone thou wilt find true rest. He is that one thing necessary, and that Supreme Good, in which consist the plenitude and perfection of all things that are beautiful and give delight. Wherefore, it is meet to seek and to desire seriously Him alone; other things are not to be sought after, except so far as they may assist us in loving and honouring Him. He is to be loved above all things; He is to be loved with all our mind, with all our heart, and with all our soul. As much as thou understandest, as much as thou knowest, as much as thou canst, so much do thou love Him. Love Him according to the measure of thy strength and the degree of grace that is given thee. If thou canst love but imperfectly, keep alive within thee the desire, at least, of loving more perfectly: humble 37thyself, and say to Him: “Thy eyes did see my imperfect being” (Ps. cxxxviii. 16).

Woe to that man who loves not God! For he is never truly serene, never truly tranquil; he is a slave to his vices, he follows vanity; he lives not, indeed, but remains in death; he is dead, he is nothing. Let not the soul fear that seeks after God; but let her tremble that seeks Him not. Endeavour, as much as lieth in thee, to contemn and reject whatever calls thee away or distracts thee from the love of thy Creator. Learn to expel vain desires, and to reject useless cares and solicitude.

Strive to break the bonds of unseasonable familiarity with men, and to sever the ties of inordinate love of relations, or of any temporal things. In short, thou must accustom thyself skilfully to repel and avoid whatever may entangle and dissipate thy heart. Thou must never seek to be especially loved by any one, but seek that God may be perfectly loved by all men. Thou shalt not greatly desire the bodily presence of any one, except for the sake of spiritual advancement; and even in that case, it must not be desired with disturbance and impatience of mind. If thou lovest spiritually those who live piously, thou wilt easily endure their absence; for those whom thou lovest sincerely in the Lord, will always be present to thee in the Lord.