Chapter Six: That Conformity
of the Human Will
to the Divine is Heaven Out of Heaven, and True Happiness
"BLESSED art
thou, and it shall be well with thee" (Ps.
CXXVII. 2), whoever thou art, that hast perfectly attained to this
conformity of thine own will with the Divine, and hast eagerly embraced
everything as from the Hand of God. This will be thy happiness in this
lower world; thou wilt experience a perpetual joy, and a gladness known
only to a few; for this happiness they enjoy who are united to God in
the closest friendship. "Blessed art thou, and it shall be well with
thee," for sure is that saying of S. Paul,-----"The
kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but justice and peace, and joy in
the Holy Ghost. For he that in this serveth Christ pleaseth God, and is
approved of men." (Rom. XIV. 17, 18) For as in Heaven there is no
change, and no yesterday or today (if I may so speak), but a continual
and equable inflowing of eternal pleasure, which is itself unvarying,
and yet not wholly enjoyed at one and the same time, "for a thousand
years in Thy sight are as yesterday, which is past" (Ps. LXXXIX. 4);
so, in like manner, those also who have attained to this union of their
own will with the Divine are now well-nigh unchangeable, and whatever
sorrowful vicissitude befalls them they restrain by the empire of
reason. All their meat, and drink, and delight, is the Good-pleasure of
God; and so restlessness and anxiety depart, or else from these there
would daily spring first one kind of trouble and then another without
number. Their will is so sweetly lulled into repose by the Will of God,
that, since they see that all things proceed from Him, and that His
most Holy Will is fulfilled in all things, even their very troubles and
sorrows bring with them a portion of joy, for in these troubles and
sorrows they discover the Divine Will, and more surely so than in the
greatest prosperity. And so if haply there is anything which assails
their deep tranquillity, there is certainly nothing which can overthrow
it. "They that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Sion: he shall not
be moved for ever." (Ps. CXXIV. 1)
1. And this was the ground of
that
unruffled peace with which the ancient Fathers were sustained, and, as
it were, beatified. They were not exempt indeed from an accumulation of
various troubles. Diseases very often harassed their bodies, and
anxieties assailed their minds; for in proportion as each one became
more saintly, the sorer was he for the most part afflicted. Whence,
then, did they derive such unvarying serenity of mind? Whence such
great firmness and cheerfulness of exterior? How was it that they kept
such a perpetual paschal feast, sabbath, as it were, after sabbath?
From no other cause, in truth, than from the most perfect oblation of
self to the Divine Will. It was with vain and edgeless attack that
calamity of every kind rushed upon him whom the Divine Will had thus
forearmed:-----"Whatsoever
shall befall the just man, it shall not make him sad." (Prov. XII. 21)
These saintly men, therefore, were both happy and blessed, for in all
things they recognized and worshipped the Will of God, and so on this
alone they reposed, and by it were gladdened and sustained. It chanced
that two persons were conversing upon this subject, when one of them
said,-----"If
it really is the case that all things which happen proceed from the
Divine Will, and in such a way that not even a single sparrow falls to
the ground, as Christ testifies, without God having foreknown it from
all eternity, and willed it, we shall be happy, and shall be incapable
of ever being unhappy, if we receive this." "Yes, perfectly happy shall
we be," said the other, "and shall even now almost dwell in Heaven; but
few are able to receive this in all its fullness; not because it is
hard of reception, but because they do not apply their minds." This
also may doubtless be a reason, viz., because this truth is so seldom
and so obscurely laid down in sermons. Oftentimes learned subjects, and
those which are pleasing to the ear, are discoursed of; but such topics
are comparatively useless, and to be acquainted with them is scarcely
any help at all towards Heaven. This must be taught and enforced, this
must be constantly inculcated, viz., the way in which each person may
best devote himself, and all that belongs to him, to the Divine Will,
and may become possessed of a Heaven this side of Heaven.
S. Catherine of Siena, a virgin remarkable for her sanctity, was wont
to say that men of upright minds were as like as possible to our
Saviour, for as He never lost His tranquillity of soul, even in His
utmost agony, so neither did they lose it, since it consists in the
conformity of their own will to the Divine. Nor does it hinder this
tranquil happiness that their sufferings are great, for such things
oftentimes increase it. Job was none the less united to God when
suffering the bitterest afflictions than he was when surrounded with
pleasure; nay, I would even go so far as to affirm that Job when in
want, and covered with sores on a dunghill, was far more closely united
to God than he was when living in splendour. The calmness of a mind
united to the Divine Will cannot be obscured by any clouds of sorrow.
The leaves of the Heliotrope never fade, according to Pliny; and so
concerning such a man, you may say,-----"His leaf shall not fall off:
and
all whatsoever he shall do shall prosper." (Ps. I. 3)
2. Once upon a time one of the Persians, boasting to the Greeks about
the multitude of his own people, said,-----"Tomorrow we shall hide the
sun
with our arrows." To whom the Greek playfully replied,-----"I
am glad to hear it, for we shall fight the better in the shade." And so
the man who is truly devoted to the Divine Will exclaims,-----"Let
the whole power of Hell assail me, let enemies advance, and let them
hide the sun with their darts, yet shall not my heart fail me, for I
shall fight all the better under this shade." "Nevertheless, as it
shall be the will of God in heaven so be it done." (I Mach. III. 60)
Cassian (Coll. XII. 13) relates that a man of Alexandria, who was of a
great age, was surrounded by idolaters, like a lamb by wolves. They all
united in pinching, and pushing, and driving him hither and thither;
heaping on him a thousand curses and a thousand injuries, and treating
him like a ball which is tossed from hand to hand. At length one of
them asked him in mockery what miracles his Christ, Whom he vaunted so
much, had shown? Whereupon the old man calmly replied,-----"He
wrought this miracle, that I should endure the injuries which you heap
upon me. without losing my tranquillity of mind, and should be ready to
endure even greater injuries for love of Him, if you were to proceed to
inflict them." And this is in truth a great miracle, and one which even
now is daily performed by those who surrender themselves entirely to
the Divine Will. Such as these know how to stand fearless in the midst
of whirlwinds and tempests, and erect among ruins; and to look down
upon all human things as beneath their feet. The old miracles are
revived; the bush which Moses saw and which burnt with fire, but was
not consumed; the three Hebrew Children who fell down bound in the
flames at Babylon, and yet remained uninjured and untouched. And so, no
doubt, many sorrowful things befall good men; and here it is not that
they lack the sense of feeling, but impatience. Every kind of adversity
they view as a trial of themselves, and refer it all to the Divine
Will. And so they do not dread hardships and difficulties, nor do they
murmur at all about God and the Divine Permissions. Whatever happens
they believe it to be for their good, and turn it to a good account,
and refer everything to the Divine Will and Providence.
They say that Mount Olympus in Macedonia is of such a wonderful height
that neither wind, nor rain, nor snow, ever reach its summit. "Olympus
rises above the clouds." (LUCAN, Pharsal.
2) There the sky is clear and bright, beyond all the fierce conflicts
of tempests. But this spot allows no birds or other living creatures to
rest upon it, for the exceeding rarity of the atmosphere prevents
respiration. The knowledge of this fact was arrived at as follows:
There were certain people who attempted the ascent every year, and who
used to carry with them wet sponges fastened to their nostrils, which
made the air denser, and thus promoted respiration; and when they had
ascended the peak of the mountain they wrote certain letters on the
dust, and after the lapse of a year they found that they had not been
disturbed, but were just as if they had been recently written; and this
was a convincing proof that neither rain nor wind ever visited that
spot. And such is the condition of the man who has reached this most
exalted height of union with the Divine Will. He is a Mountain, an
Olympus, higher than the clouds, above storms, out of the reach of wild
beasts, unapproachable by winds. Here the clouds of
sorrow are hurried along beneath him. Here is profound and most
delicious repose in the sole Will of God. "In peace," says S.
Augustine, "is perfection, where there is nothing which opposes; and
therefore the sons of God are men of peace, since there is nothing in
them which strives against God. And this is the peace which is given on
earth to men of good will: this is the life of a complete and perfectly
wise man." Admirably has Dorotheus (Serm.
de Obed.)
said, that the man who in all things endeavours to follow the Divine
Will is borne along in a chariot, together with all the crosses which
otherwise would have been borne by him; while others, who do not
understand this short and easy way of traveling, follow behind on foot,
and either drag along heavy crosses in a gloomy way, or carry them with
pain and difficulty.
3. That this
perfect union with the Divine Will is the supreme happiness out of
Heaven Philo (De Sacerd. Muner.)
testifies, when he says,-----"While
the question is about offering gifts to God, regard is had to the
benefit of those who offer. For as long as they are accustomed to cut
off a part of their daily food for God, they never fall into
forgetfulness of Him: and nothing in this world can happen more
fortunately for a man than this." And to this sentiment a Theologian
and preacher of our own day subscribes. "I have sometimes thought," he
says, "whether any art could be devised by which a man might be
perfectly happy out of the heavenly condition of the Blessed; and I am
persuaded that there is this one way-----if he surrenders himself
entirely
to his Creator and His most Holy Will, keeping back no part of
himself."
And great
assistance in making this truth known
does the god Cynocephalus render; who is a beast in the formation of
its hands and feet, but like a man in the rest of the body. It is the
peculiarity of this creature that it is governed by the moon through
some secret influence. For when the moon grows old the eyes of the
Cynocephalus fail so much that when it has come to its last quarter,
and has disappeared, the eyes of the beast stare wide open, without any
power of sight, and in a similar way all the functions of its body
fail. But when the moon is young, and readjusts its golden orb, the
eyes of the animal expand, and its whole body regains its strength, so
that, being recreated, as it were, and restored to its former
condition, it raises itself up on its hinder-feet, and with a wonderful
prostration of body, and with hands raised up in veneration to the ring
of the moon, it worships that heavenly body with suppliant gesture. And
by this worship the animal protests and proclaims that it ascribes all
its happiness to the moon, since it owes all that it possesses to the
liberality of that heavenly body. And so it happens, that, when the
moon reaches the full, a ring shines round the head of the Cynocephalus
like a crown. A very wonderful union between a planet and a brute, that
the animal knows how to return thanks to its nourisher with such great
signs of submission, and with such an humble form of worship, and to
offer itself as a slave! And what are we doing, Christian friends, if
we are either less wise, or inferior to an animal void of reason? God.
is most perfect Light; yet, as far as we are concerned, that Light
either waxes or wanes according as we prepare ourselves to receive it.
When it fades within us our eyes become dim; we pine away, and fall to
the ground, and faint, and perish: but when it increases we are
illuminated, and grow, and are strong and healthy. Let us, therefore,
submit ourselves as perfectly as possible to this Lord, and to His most
Holy Will, being ready to obey its every indication. This procures for
us a crown, and not only that of eternal glory, but an illustrious one
even in this fleeting life. We are transformed into God, when our will
is transformed into the Divine.
And how
I wish, Christian friends, how I wish,
that day and night you would do nothing else, and care for nothing
else, than that your will should in all things be the Will of God, than
that the Divine Will should transfuse itself into yours! It is the
worthiest of tasks for you to strain every nerve that you may only will
or not will that which God wills or wills not. Believe me, it is good
for us thus to cleave to God; it is good for us thus to be joined to
the Divine Will, and to place our trust in the Lord God. This is true
blessedness. This is HEAVEN OUT OF HEAVEN.
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