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There will always be many who love Christ’s heavenly kingdom, but few who will bear his cross. Many are eager to be happy with him; few wish to suffer anything for him.
Many love Christ as long as they encounter no hardship; many praise and bless him as long as they receive some comfort from him. But if Jesus hides himself and leaves them for a while, they either start complaining or become dejected. Those, on the contrary, who love him for his own sake and not for any comfort of their own, praise him both in trial and anguish of heart as well as in the bliss of consolation. Even if Jesus should never comfort them, they would continue to praise and thank him. What power there is in a pure love for Jesus – love that is free from all self-interest and self-love!
Do not those who always seek consolation prove that they love themselves rather than Christ? Where can we find anyone who is willing to serve God for nothing? Such a person is worth far more than the jewels brought from the most distant lands.
Take up your cross and follow Jesus, and you will inherit everlasting life. There is no other way to life and to true inward peace than the way and discipline of the cross. Go where you will, seek what you want, you will not find a higher way, nor a less exalted but safer way, than the way of the cross. Arrange and order everything to suit your desires and you will still have to bear some kind of suffering, willingly or unwillingly.
The cross, therefore, is unavoidable. It waits for you everywhere. No matter where you may go, you cannot escape it, for wherever you go you take yourself along. Turn where you will – above, below, without, or within – you will find the cross.
If you willingly carry the cross, it will carry you. It will take you to where suffering comes to an end, a place other than here. If you carry it unwillingly, you create a burden for yourself and increase the load, though still you have to bear it. If you try to do away with one cross, you will find another and perhaps a heavier one. How do you expect to escape what no one else can avoid? Which saint was exempt? Not even Jesus Christ was spared. Why is it that you look for another way other than the royal way of the holy cross?
The whole life of Christ was a cross. And the more spiritual progress you strive for, the heavier will your crosses become, for as your love for God increases so will the pain of your exile.
When you willingly carry your cross, every pang of tribulation is changed into hope of solace from God. Besides, with every affliction the spirit is strengthened by grace. For it is the grace of Christ, and not our own virtue, that gives us the power to overcome the flesh and the world. You will not even fear your enemy, the devil, if you arm yourself with faith and are signed with the cross of Christ.
Decide then, like a good and faithful servant of Christ, to bear bravely the cross of your Lord. It was out of love that he was crucified for you. Drink freely from the Lord’s cup if you wish to be his friend. Leave your need for consolation to God. Let him do as he wills. On your part, be ready to bear sufferings and consider how in these sufferings lies your greatest consolation. The sufferings of this life are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come.
When you get to the point where for Christ’s sake suffering becomes sweet, consider yourself fortunate, for you have found paradise on earth.
From Bread and Wine, Plough’s daily reader for Lent.
Stations of the Cross below the Mam Ean, Ireland
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Dean Daniels
-- Pain and Suffering I wish there was a shortcut around, a tunnel under or a bridge over suffering - but there isn't, God's presence of peace 'beyond all understanding' is discovered IN IT, when you face it, walk into it and go through it. … Heard an orthodox sermon a few months ago we wouldn't find on a protestant church event sign, "Live in hell and do not despair". Several years ago, the title wouldn't have even made sense - it would have even been offensive, but after years of disappointment, suffering and pain - I chuckled when I read the YouTube title, just as did when I saw similar titles, "Glorious Ruin" and the very recent, "Limping With God". It all reminds me of a sage I heard in church long ago as a child, "Pleasure is a prostitute, but Pain...she is Faithful!” --
Ann Catherine Dayton
Thank you so much for posting those words of wisdom from Thomas a Kempis. Familiar as they are - how much I needed to hear them today!
Christian Luca
Thank you for your message, Thomas à Kempis! Such a beautiful and true message, indeed! I truly resonated with the following in the article: "Do not those who always seek consolation prove that they love themselves rather than Christ? Where can we find anyone who is willing to serve God for nothing? Such a person is worth far more than the jewels brought from the most distant lands. Take up your cross and follow Jesus, and you will inherit everlasting life. There is no other way to life and to true inward peace than the way and discipline of the cross. Go where you will, seek what you want, you will not find a higher way, nor a less exalted but safer way, than the way of the cross. Arrange and order everything to suit your desires and you will still have to bear some kind of suffering, willingly or unwillingly. The cross, therefore, is unavoidable. It waits for you everywhere. No matter where you may go, you cannot escape it, for wherever you go you take yourself along. Turn where you will – above, below, without, or within – you will find the cross." What a blessing this article is--the depth of theology and a life mirrored on the example of Jesus Christ's life is one which is the most authentic and meaningful!
Carolee Uits
How true the words, "If you are willing to carry the cross, it will carry you! The older, or deeper in suffering after we are fully convinced that God provides all, - the truer these words. It is significant to me that of the 11 remaining after Judas Iscariot was gone, all but John died by violent deaths. Even John was shut up as a prisoner on Patmos for years. As we live into our faith, we know we all deserve so much worse than what God allows, and by His utter grace, we live to praise him daily. God is always ENOUGH - and SO MUCH more! Remember then with me, all those who suffer from the world and life far more, the innocent of wars, brutality, and worse - especially the Ones who have faith in His goodness far more than we. I ask you pray with them and for them, that their sufferings will be soothed and healed -and they will be borne into God's tender hands.
Jay Arnakak
thank you for this posting. I used to think that the blessings and rewards of religion were carnal in nature; as I've recommitted myself to the discipleship of our Lord Christ, I've come to realize that the peace of mind and faith does not change anything outwardly but is nothing less than a complete change of personal perspective (ie, I must allow G*d to turn my heart of stone into a heart of flesh, that my resistence turn into acceptance if true meaning is to take hold in my life). The new life changes our relationships, but it is really us who change, and this changes everything.