THE FOLLOWING OF CHRIST

BY THOMAS A KEMPIS
Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur, 1941

------Book 2------
CHAPTER 1: OF INTERIOR CONVERSATION

THE kingdom of God is within you, saith the Lord.

Turn thee unto the Lord with thy whole heart, and quit this miserable world, and thy soul shall find rest.

Learn to slight exterior things, and to give thyself to interior things, and thou shalt see the kingdom of God come within thee.

The kingdom of God is peace and joy in the Holy Ghost; which is not given to the wicked.

Christ will come to thee, and discover His consolation to thee, if thou wilt prepare for Him a fit dwelling within thee.
All His glory and beauty are from within; and there it is that He taketh delight.

Many are His visits to the man of interior life, and sweet the conversation that He holdeth with him; plenteous His consolation, His peace, and His familiarity.

2. Come, then, faithful soul, make thy heart ready for this Spouse, so that He may vouchsafe to come to thee and to dwell within thee.

For so He saith: "If any man love Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him; We will come to him, and make Our abode with him."

Give admittance, therefore, to Christ, and refuse entrance to all beside.

When thou hast Christ, thou art rich, and He is sufficient for thee.

He will provide for thee, and be thy faithful procurator in all things; so that thou needest not to trust in men.

For men soon change, and they quickly fail; but Christ abideth forever, and standeth by us firmly to the end.

3. No great confidence must we place in frail and mortal man, useful though he be, and dearly beloved; nor shouldst thou be much grieved if he sometimes oppose and contradict thee.

They that today are with thee, tomorrow may be against thee; and they often change to the contrary, like the wind.

Put thy whole trust in God, and let Him be thy fear and thy love.

He will answer for thee, and will graciously do for thee as shall be best.

Here thou hast no abiding city; and wherever thou shalt be, thou art a stranger and a pilgrim; nor wilt thou ever have rest, except thou be interiorly united with Christ.

4. Why dost thou stand looking about thee here, since this is not the place of thy rest?

Thine abode must be in Heaven, and thou shouldst look upon all earthly things as it were in passing.

All things pass away, and thou too, along with them.

See thou cleave not to them, lest thou be ensnared, and perish.

Let thy thoughts be with the Most High, and let thy prayers be sent forth without ceasing unto Christ.

If thou knowest not how to meditate on high and heavenly things, rest in the Passion of Christ, and love to dwell within His sacred Wounds.

For if thou devoutly betake thyself to the Wounds and precious stigmas of Jesus, thou shalt feel great comfort in tribulation; thou wilt not care much for being slighted by men, and wilt easily bear the speeches of detractors.

5. Christ also was despised by men in the world, and in His greatest need He was, by His acquaintance and His friends, forsaken amidst insults. Christ was willing to suffer and to be despised, and darest thou complain of aught?

Christ had enemies and detractors, and wouldst thou have all to be thy friends and benefactors?

Whence shall thy patience be crowned, if thou meet with no adversity?

If thou wilt suffer no contradiction, how canst thou be the friend of Christ?

Endure with Christ, and for Christ, if thou wouldst reign with Christ.

6. If thou hadst once perfectly entered into the interior of Jesus, and tasted a little of His ardent love; then wouldst thou care but little for thine own convenience or inconvenience; but wouldst rather rejoice at reproach; for the love of Jesus maketh a man despise himself.

A lover of Jesus and the truth, a true interior person, who is free from inordinate affections, can freely turn himself to God, elevate himself above himself in spirit, and enjoy a delightful repose.

7. He whose taste discerneth all things as they are, and not as they are said or accounted to be, is truly a wise man, and taught rather of God than of men.

He that knoweth how to walk interiorly, and to make but little account of things exteriorly, doth not look for places nor wait for seasons to perform exercises of devotion.

The man of interior life soon recollecteth himself, because he never wholly poureth forth himself upon exterior things.
Exterior labor is no prejudice to him, nor any employment necessary for the time; but as things happen, so he accommodateth himself to them.

He who is well disposed and orderly in his interior is not concerned about the strange and perverse doings of men.

Just so much is a man hindered and distracted in proportion as he draws things to himself.

8. If all were right within thee, and thou wert well purified, all things would tend to thy good and thy profit.

The reason why many things displease thee, and oftentimes disturb thee, is, that thou art not yet perfectly dead to thyself, nor detached from earthly things.

There is nothIng that so defileth and entangleth the heart of man as an impure attachment to created things.

If thou wilt refuse exterior consolations, then shalt thou be able to apply thy mind to heavenly things, and experience frequent interior joy.

PRACTICAL REFLECTIONS.

"CONVERT thyself with thy whole heart to the Lord. Learn to despise the exterior things, and give thyself to the interior." These words teach us that the true happiness and only merit of this life consist in retirement and recollection in God, which are maintained by means of a respectful remembrance of His presence, and a continual turning of souls towards Him. A recollected mind and a faithful heart form the character of an interior man who adores God in spirit and in truth-----that is, who pays Him that interior homage which becometh His sovereign greatness, and is so necessary for a soul whose sole business is to live in God and for God. It is this abiding of God in the soul, this establishment of the soul in God, by raising itself up to Him in sighs and lamentations, and by casting its whole self upon Him, which enables it to live an interior life, a life of merit, and above nature, which is heaven upon earth, and an anticipated possession of the felicity of God. I am resolved, therefore, to mortify my senses, to banish from my mind all vain and useless reflections, and to keep a strict guard over my heart, that nothing may enter therein but what will promote the fear and love of Jesus Christ. Everything else shall be to me as though it were not; and I will endeavor, above all things, to know, love and imitate my Redeemer, content to suffer all for Him and in Him, that I may one day reign with Him! O my soul! breathe only His love, live only to please Him, sigh only for the happiness of possessing Him.

PRAYER.

O MY most amiable Savior! the life of my soul, the only object of my hope, and the assurance of my salvation! Come, take possession of my heart, which is already Thine, infuse into it the spirit of Thy mysteries, Thine interior dispositions, and the virtues which Thou didst practice. Grant that, animated by Thy Spirit, living in and by Thee, and, as it were, clothed with Thy justice, I may become more Thine than my own. Mayst Thou live in me: and may I, by a happy transmutation, yielding myself entirely to Thee, act only from the influences of Thy love. Amen.

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