John Donne, the seventeenth-century poet, was somewhat of a “renaissance man”. A Roman Catholic who later converted to the Anglican church, was also, among other things, a lawyer, diplomat, traveler and preacher. Such experience seemed to give him a very broad view of life and eternity. In his poem, Hymn to God My God, in […]
In his book, A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life, William Law encourages the reader to live a life that provides outward proof of an inward truth. Our conversion, he describes, must be evident to all and at all times. If we are to be new people in Christ, then we must show […]
The classic work, The Imitation of Christ, is commonly attributed to Thomas à Kempis, the 15th-century Augustine monk. There are some, however, that believe the work was written by the Dutch missionary preacher Gerhard Groote and edited by Thomas. In either case, the author here describes four actions of self-denial and submission to God’s will […]
John Wesley, in his sermon Christian Perfection, warns us against causing or furthering division in the church. According to him, disunity leads to separation. In this paragraph, Wesley reminds us that our apprehension at the thought of being separated from our brothers and sisters should far outweigh our desire to be proven right in opinions […]
In his volume, The Imitation of Christ, Thomas à Kempis writes this take on the Apostle Paul’s admonition to “take every thought captive” (2 Cor 10:5). Thomas encourages us to be vigilant and to employ swift countermeasures at the first hint of temptation’s attempt to infiltrate our minds. We will do better in dealing with […]
Fifteenth-century Augustinian monk, Thomas à Kempis, is attributed with writing the classic work, The Imitation of Christ. In this passage the author describes how the temptations we suffer can be an indicator of our spiritual health, specifically the steadiness of our thinking and our trust in God. These words encourage us to recognize this fact […]
In his poem, The Pulley, George Herbert imagines that after bestowing many gifts on mankind, God considers that a life of ease would not be something he should grant us. He portrays that an easy life, one without toil and struggle, would only cause us to worship the gifts rather than the Giver, and that […]
Fourteenth century writer Richard Rolle, in his work The Fire Of Love, writes of a singular devotion in following Christ. In this quote he effectively merges Jesus’ teaching on serving two masters and the ideas found in the book of James regarding our works being an indicator of our faith. Love for God and love […]
Twentieth-century Trappist monk, Thomas Merton, wrote a small book entitled Contemplative Prayer for his fellow monks at the Gethsemane Abbey in Kentucky. In this volume Merton writes the following warning against trying to find some “magical method” or formula that alone will make contemplative prayer and meditation effective. Faith, according to Merton, and not our […]
In Foster’s modern translation of an excerpt from François Fénelon’s Christian Perfection we hear the author’s thoughts on the folly of not whole-heartedly releasing ourselves to the will of God. Here Fénelon teaches that we withhold our complete surrender at the cost of, among other things, our own happiness and comfort. What folly to fear […]