Book II, chapter 12 of The Imitation of Christ.
Why,
then, do you fear to take up the cross when through it you can win a kingdom?
In the cross is salvation, in the cross is life, in the cross is protection
from enemies, in the cross is infusion of heavenly sweetness, in the cross is
strength of mind, in the cross is joy of spirit, in the cross is highest
virtue, in the cross is perfect holiness. There is no salvation of soul nor
hope of everlasting life but in the cross.
Take
up your cross, therefore, and follow Jesus, and you shall enter eternal life.
He Himself opened the way before you in carrying His cross, and upon it He died
for you, that you, too, might take up your cross and long to die upon it. If
you die with Him, you shall also live with Him, and if you share His suffering,
you shall also share His glory.
Behold,
in the cross is everything, and upon your dying on the cross everything
depends. There is no other way to life and to true inward peace than the way of
the holy cross and daily mortification. Go where you will, seek what you will,
you will not find a higher way, nor a less exalted but safer way, than the way
of the holy cross. Arrange and order everything to suit your will and judgment,
and still you will find that some suffering must always be borne, willingly or
unwillingly, and thus you will always find the cross.
Either
you will experience bodily pain or you will undergo tribulation of spirit in
your soul. At times you will be forsaken by God, at times troubled by those
about you and, what is worse, you will often grow weary of yourself. You cannot
escape, you cannot be relieved by any remedy or comfort but must bear with it
as long as God wills. For He wishes you to learn to bear trial without consolation,
to submit yourself wholly to Him that you may become more humble through
suffering. No one understands the passion of Christ so thoroughly or heartily
as the man whose lot it is to suffer the like himself.
The
cross, therefore, is always ready; it awaits you everywhere. No matter where
you may go, you cannot escape it, for wherever you go you take yourself with
you and shall always find yourself. Turn where you will -- above, below,
without, or within -- you will find a cross in everything, and everywhere you
must have patience if you would have peace within and merit an eternal crown.
If
you carry the cross willingly, it will carry and lead you to the desired goal
where indeed there shall be no more suffering, but here there shall be. If you
carry it unwillingly, you create a burden for yourself and increase the load,
though still you have to bear it. If you cast away one cross, you will find
another and perhaps a heavier one. Do you expect to escape what no mortal man
can ever avoid? Which of the saints was without a cross or trial on this earth?
Not even Jesus Christ, our Lord, Whose every hour on earth knew the pain of His
passion. "It behooveth Christ to suffer, and to rise again from the dead,
. . . and so enter into his glory."(3) How is it that you look for another
way than this, the royal way of the holy cross?
The
whole life of Christ was a cross and a martyrdom, and do you seek rest and
enjoyment for yourself? You deceive yourself, you are mistaken if you seek
anything but to suffer, for this mortal life is full of miseries and marked
with crosses on all sides. Indeed, the more spiritual progress a person makes,
so much heavier will he frequently find the cross, because as his love
increases, the pain of his exile also increases.
Yet
such a man, though afflicted in many ways, is not without hope of consolation,
because he knows that great reward is coming to him for bearing his cross. And
when he carries it willingly, every pang of tribulation is changed into hope of
solace from God. Besides, the more the flesh is distressed by affliction, so
much the more is the spirit strengthened by inward grace. Not infrequently a
man is so strengthened by his love of trials and hardship in his desire to
conform to the cross of Christ, that he does not wish to be without sorrow or
pain, since he believes he will be the more acceptable to God if he is able to
endure more and more grievous things for His sake.
It
is the grace of Christ, and not the virtue of man, which can and does bring it
about that through fervor of spirit frail flesh learns to love and to gain what
it naturally hates and shuns.
To
carry the cross, to love the cross, to chastise the body and bring it to
subjection, to flee honors, to endure contempt gladly, to despise self and wish
to be despised, to suffer any adversity and loss, to desire no prosperous days
on earth -- this is not man's way. If you rely upon yourself, you can do none
of these things, but if you trust in the Lord, strength will be given you from
heaven and the world and the flesh will be made subject to your word. You will
not even fear your enemy, the devil, if you are armed with faith and signed
with the cross of Christ.
Set
yourself, then, like a good and faithful servant of Christ, to bear bravely the
cross of your Lord, Who out of love was crucified for you. Be ready to suffer
many adversities and many kinds of trouble in this miserable life, for
troublesome and miserable life will always be, no matter where you are; and so
you will find it wherever you may hide. Thus it must be; and there is no way to
evade the trials and sorrows of life but to bear them.
Drink
the chalice of the Lord with affection it you wish to be His friend and to have
part with Him. Leave consolation to God; let Him do as most pleases Him. On
your part, be ready to bear sufferings and consider them the greatest
consolation, for even though you alone were to undergo them all, the sufferings
of this life are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come.
When
you shall have come to the point where suffering is sweet and acceptable for
the sake of Christ, then consider yourself fortunate, for you have found
paradise on earth. But as long as suffering irks you and you seek to escape, so
long will you be unfortunate, and the tribulation you seek to evade will follow
you everywhere. If you put your mind to the things you ought to consider, that
is, to suffering and death, you would soon be in a better state and would find
peace.
Although
you were taken to the third heaven with Paul, you were not thereby insured
against suffering. Jesus said: "I will show him how great things he must
suffer for My name's sake."(4) To suffer, then, remains your lot, if you
mean to love Jesus and serve Him forever.
If
you were but worthy to suffer something for the name of Jesus, what great glory
would be in store for you, what great joy to all the saints of God, what great
edification to those about you! For all men praise patience though there are
few who wish to practice it. With good reason, then, ought you to be willing to
suffer a little for Christ since many suffer much more for the world.
Realize
that you must lead a dying life; the more a man dies to himself, the more he
begins to live unto God.
No
man is fit to enjoy heaven unless he has resigned himself to suffer hardship
for Christ. Nothing is more acceptable to God, nothing more helpful for you on
this earth than to suffer willingly for Christ. If you had to make a choice,
you ought to wish rather to suffer for Christ than to enjoy many consolations,
for thus you would be more like Christ and more like all the saints. Our merit
and progress consist not in many pleasures and comforts but rather in enduring
great afflictions and sufferings.
If,
indeed, there were anything better or more useful for man's salvation than
suffering, Christ would have shown it by word and example. But He clearly
exhorts the disciples who follow Him and all who wish to follow Him to carry
the cross, saying: "If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself,
and take up his cross daily, and follow Me."(5)
When,
therefore, we have read and searched all that has been written, let this be the
final conclusion -- that through much suffering we must enter into the kingdom
of God.
Footnotes.
Footnotes.
1. Matt. 16:24..
2. Matt. 25:41.
3. Luke 24:46, 26.
4. Acts 9:16.
5. Luke 9:23.
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