Midieval Vatican Art, taken by Martha Wiggins, 2012
I recently wrote a post about The Imitation of Christ, a devotional written in the 15th century whose authorship is attributed to Thomas a Kempis. It is written in order to help the devout soul achieve holiness, and is the second most widely read book in the world. It is second only to the Bible. Today, I would like to share another excerpt entitled, Thankfulness.
“Be GRATEFUL for the least, and thou shalt be worthy to receive greater things. Let the least be to thee as something very great, and most contemptible as a special favor. If thou considerest the dignity of the Giver, no gift will seem little or too mean for thee. For that is not little which is given by the most high God. Yea, though He give punishment and stripes, they ought to be acceptable; for whatever He suffereth to befall us, He always doth it for our salvation. He that desireth to retain the grace of God, let him be thankful for grace when it is given, and patient when it is withdrawn. Let him pray, that it may return; let him be cautious and humble, lest he lose it.” (II. 10.)
I find this to be very rich with wisdom, guidance and inspiration. Most notably for me, is that just as God allowed His beloved Son, Jesus Christ, to suffer punishment and stripes in His passion and death on the Cross, He may also allow me to suffer. So many wonder why God allows suffering. He never wishes to see us suffer, but if He deems it necessary for our personal salvation, then He will allow it to befall us. We are to be thankful in receiving His graces, and patient when He seems to withhold them. If that isn’t hard enough, we must also be careful to remain humble while we wait, and hopeful for its return, lest we lose it completely. If we look even closer we will see the answer as to how we can accomplish all of this… through prayer. If we desire to be in His grace we will accept whatever gifts of grace He bestows, even if that be suffering and stripes, and pray for humility until the return of the fullness of His grace.
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