CHAPTER XXI.

How he was directed to the rational school, in which the art of true detachment is taught.

ONE day the Servitor was sitting on his bench after matins, and while he was absorbed in meditation his bodily senses became abstracted, and it seemed to his inward vision that a noble youth came down from above, and, standing before him, addressed him thus:—Thou hast been long enough in the lower schools, and hast exercised thyself sufficiently in them, and art now foil-grown. Up then with me. I will take thee to the highest school which is to be found in this world; and thou shalt diligently learn there the highest of all crafts, which shall establish thee in divine peace, and bring thy holy beginnings to a blissful end. The Servitor was rejoiced at this, and stood up; upon which, the youth took him by the hand and carried him, as it appeared to him, into a land above the ken of sense. There was a beautiful house there, which looked as if it were the abode of religious men, and those who practised the afore-named craft dwelt in it. When he entered the house, they received him kindly 82and greeted him lovingly, and then they went in haste to the Master Superior, and told him that one had come who also wished to be his disciple, and to learn the craft. He answered:—I will look at him and see how he pleases me. When he saw the Servitor, he smiled upon him very kindly, and said:—Be assured that this stranger may become an excellent professor of this high craft, if he will patiently submit to the strait stocks, in which he must be inwardly confined. But the Servitor understood not these obscure words; so he turned him to the youth who had brought him thither, and asked him, saying:—Tell me, dear comrade, what is the highest school, and what is the craft taught there of which thou spokest to me? The youth answered:—The highest school, and the craft which is taught there, consist simply in an entire and perfect detachment from self; that is to say, how a man may attain to such an abiding spirit of self-renunciation, that, no matter how God treats him, either directly by Him self, or indirectly through creatures, or how he feels, whether joyful or sad, the one object of his strivings shall ever be to continue always the same by a perpetual giving up of self, as far as human frailty will allow, and to make God’s 83honour and glory his sole aim, just in the way that the dear Christ acted towards His heavenly Father. When the Senator heard this, he was well pleased at it, and he resolved to study the craft, and it seemed to him that he could meet with no difficulties so great as to make him turn aside from this intention. Moreover, he wished to build a house there, and to undertake much active work. The youth prevented him from doing this, saying:—This craft requires a complete cessation from activity. The less a man does here, the more he has really done.⁶⁶   He alluded in this to that mode of acting in which a man is a hindrance to himself, and does not seek God’s honour purely.

Immediately after this discourse the Servitor came to himself again, and he continued to sit still as before. Then he began to reflect deeply upon this discourse, and he observed that it was the same pure and simple truth which Christ Himself has taught. Thereupon he proceeded to hold converse with himself interiorly, saying:—Look inwards, friend, and thou wilt find thyself still really there, and wilt perceive that, not withstanding all thy outward practices, in which thou didst of thy own choice exercise thyself, thou art still undetached from self in what relates 84to contradictions at the hands of others. Thou art still like a timid hare, which lies hidden in a thicket, and is terrified at every rustling leaf. Even so is it with thee too. Thou art terrified every day at the sufferings which come upon thee. The sight of thy enemies makes thee lose colour. When thou shouldst let thyself be humiliated, thou takest to flight. When thou shouldst expose thyself to the blow, thou hidest. When thou art praised, thou laughest. When thou art blamed, thou mournest. It may well be true that thou needest a higher school. Then sighing inwardly, he looked up to God, and said:—O God, how nakedly has this truth been shown me! Woe is me! When shall I ever become a truly detached man?