(Peace)

By Thomas à Kempis

We should enjoy much peace if we did not concern ourselves with what others say and do, for these are no concern of ours. How can a man who meddles in affairs not his own, who seeks strange distractions, and who is little or seldom inwardly recollected, live long in peace? Blessed are the simple of heart, for they shall enjoy peace in abundance.

Why have so many of the saints become so perfect and come so far in the contemplation of the heavenly? Because they have given themselves entirely to mortifying all their earthly desires, and thus they were able to attach themselves to God with all their heart and freely to concentrate their innermost thoughts. We are too occupied with our earthly whims and fancies, too taken up worrying about passing things. Rarely do we completely conquer even one vice, and we are not inflamed with the desire to repentance day by day; hence, we remain cold and indifferent.

If we mortified our bodies perfectly and allowed no distractions to enter our minds, we could appreciate divine things and experience something of heavenly contemplation. The greatest obstacle, indeed, the only obstacle, is that we are not free from passions and lusts, that we do not try to follow the perfect way and example of the saints. Thus, when we encounter some slight difficulty, we are too easily dejected and turn to human consolations. If we tried, however, to stand as brave men in battle, the help of the Lord from heaven would surely sustain us. For He who gives us the opportunity of fighting for victory is ready to help those who carry on and trust in His grace. If we let our progress in religious life depend on the observance of its externals alone, our devotion will quickly come to an end. Let us, then, lay the axe to the root that we may be freed from our passions and thus have peace of mind.

If we were to uproot one sin each year, we should soon become perfect. The contrary, however, is often the case—we feel that we were better and purer in the first fervour of our conversion than we are after many years in the practice of our faith. Our fervour and progress ought to increase day by day; yet it is now considered noteworthy if a man can retain even a part of his first fervour. If we did a little violence to ourselves at the start, we should afterwards be able to do all things with ease and joy.

It is hard to break old habits, but harder still to break and go against our will. If you do not overcome small, trifling things, how will you overcome the more difficult things? Resist temptations in the beginning, and unlearn the evil habit lest, perhaps, little by little, it leads to greater sin. If you but consider what peace a good life will bring to yourself and what joy it will give to others with a Godfearing life, I think you will be more concerned about your progress in Godly fear.