The First Chapter

     THE kingdom of God is within you," says the Lord. (9)

     Turn, then, to God with all your heart. Forsake this wretched world and your soul shall find

rest. Learn to despise external things, to devote yourself to those that are within, and you will see

the kingdom of God come unto you, that kingdom which is peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, gifts

not given to the impious.

     Christ will come to you offering His consolation, if you prepare a fit dwelling for Him in your

heart, whose beauty and glory, wherein He takes delight, are all from within. His visits with the

inward man are frequent, His communion sweet and full of consolation, His peace great, and His

intimacy wonderful indeed.

     Therefore, faithful soul, prepare your heart for this Bridegroom that He may come and dwell

within you; He Himself says: "If any one love Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love

him, and We will come to him, and will make Our abode with him." (10)

     Give place, then, to Christ, but deny entrance to all others, for when you have Christ you are

rich and He is sufficient for you. He will provide for you. He will supply your every want, so that

you need not trust in frail, changeable men. Christ remains forever, standing firmly with us to the

end.

     Do not place much confidence in weak and mortal man, helpful and friendly though he be; and

do not grieve too much if he sometimes opposes and contradicts you. Those who are with us today

may be against us tomorrow, and vice versa, for men change with the wind. Place all your trust in

God; let Him be your fear and your love. He will answer for you; He will do what is best for you.

You have here no lasting home. You are a stranger and a pilgrim wherever you may be, and

you shall have no rest until you are wholly united with Christ.

     Why do you look about here when this is not the place of your repose? Dwell rather upon

heaven and give but a passing glance to all earthly things. They all pass away, and you together

with them. Take care, then, that you do not cling to them lest you be entrapped and perish. Fix your

mind on the Most High, and pray unceasingly to Christ.

     If you do not know how to meditate on heavenly things, direct your thoughts to Christ?s passion

and willingly behold His sacred wounds. If you turn devoutly to the wounds and precious stigmata

of Christ, you will find great comfort in suffering, you will mind but little the scorn of men, and

you will easily bear their slanderous talk.

     When Christ was in the world, He was despised by men; in the hour of need He was forsaken

by acquaintances and left by friends to the depths of scorn. He was willing to suffer and to be

despised; do you dare to complain of anything? He had enemies and defamers; do you want everyone

to be your friend, your benefactor? How can your patience be rewarded if no adversity test it? How

can you be a friend of Christ if you are not willing to suffer any hardship? Suffer with Christ and

for Christ if you wish to reign with Him.

     Had you but once entered into perfect communion with Jesus or tasted a little of His ardent

love, you would care nothing at all for your own comfort or discomfort but would rejoice in the

reproach you suffer; for love of Him makes a man despise himself.

     A man who is a lover of Jesus and of truth, a truly interior man who is free from uncontrolled

affections, can turn to God at will and rise above himself to enjoy spiritual peace.

He who tastes life as it really is, not as men say or think it is, is indeed wise with the wisdom

of God rather than of men.

     He who learns to live the interior life and to take little account of outward things, does not seek

special places or times to perform devout exercises. A spiritual man quickly recollects himself

because he has never wasted his attention upon externals. No outside work, no business that cannot

wait stands in his way. He adjusts himself to things as they happen. He whose disposition is well

ordered cares nothing about the strange, perverse behavior of others, for a man is upset and distracted

only in proportion as he engrosses himself in externals.

     If all were well with you, therefore, and if you were purified from all sin, everything would

tend to your good and be to your profit. But because you are as yet neither entirely dead to self nor

free from all earthly affection, there is much that often displeases and disturbs you. Nothing so

mars and defiles the heart of man as impure attachment to created things. But if you refuse external

consolation, you will be able to contemplate heavenly things and often to experience interior joy.

     Prabuddha Bharata>>>

     Vedanta Kesari>>>