SLAVE TO HIS MISTRESS
In short you adapt yourself to your purse like a slave to his mistress; he must be happy when she is happy, sad when she is sad. And you: when your purse swells your mood expands, when it grows slack you are deflated. When it is empty you are crushed with misery; when it is full you melt with joy, or rather become puffed up with pride. Such is the miser.
In short you adapt yourself to your purse like a slave to his mistress; he must be happy when she is happy, sad when she is sad. And you: when your purse swells your mood expands, when it grows slack you are deflated. When it is empty you are crushed with misery; when it is full you melt with joy, or rather become puffed up with pride. Such is the miser.
THE GARDEN, THE STOREROOM, AND THE BEDROOM
The one who thirsts for God eagerly studies and meditates on the inspired word, knowing that there he is certain to find the one for whom he thirsts. Let the garden, then, represent the plain, unadorned, historical sense of Scripture, the storeroom its moral sense, and the bedroom the mystery of divine contemplation.
The Song of Songs
RESERVOIR and CANAL
The man who is wise, therefore, will see his life as more like a reservoir than a canal. The canal simultaneously pours out what it receives; the reservoir retains the water till it is filled, then discharges the overflow without loss to itself.
The Song of Songs
Sermon 18
A WELL FILLED BLADDER
He is scurrilous ... always ready for a joke, any little thing quickly gets a laugh. He is careful not to remember anything he has done which could hurt his self-esteem; but all his good points will be remembered, and added up, and if need be, touched up by imagination. He things only of what he wants and never of what is permitted. At times he simply cannot stop laughing or hide his empty-headed merriment. He is like a well-filled bladder that has been pricked and squeezed. The air, not finding a free vent, whistles out thorugh the little hole with squeak after squeak. The rule of silence will not let a monk relive himself of his vain thoughts and silly jokes. they gather pressure inside until they burst out in giggles.
The Third Step: Giddiness
The Steps of Humility and Pride
The one who thirsts for God eagerly studies and meditates on the inspired word, knowing that there he is certain to find the one for whom he thirsts. Let the garden, then, represent the plain, unadorned, historical sense of Scripture, the storeroom its moral sense, and the bedroom the mystery of divine contemplation.
The Song of Songs
RESERVOIR and CANAL
The man who is wise, therefore, will see his life as more like a reservoir than a canal. The canal simultaneously pours out what it receives; the reservoir retains the water till it is filled, then discharges the overflow without loss to itself.
The Song of Songs
Sermon 18
A WELL FILLED BLADDER
He is scurrilous ... always ready for a joke, any little thing quickly gets a laugh. He is careful not to remember anything he has done which could hurt his self-esteem; but all his good points will be remembered, and added up, and if need be, touched up by imagination. He things only of what he wants and never of what is permitted. At times he simply cannot stop laughing or hide his empty-headed merriment. He is like a well-filled bladder that has been pricked and squeezed. The air, not finding a free vent, whistles out thorugh the little hole with squeak after squeak. The rule of silence will not let a monk relive himself of his vain thoughts and silly jokes. they gather pressure inside until they burst out in giggles.
The Third Step: Giddiness
The Steps of Humility and Pride
No comments:
Post a Comment