Wesley on Kempis

I read a couple of months out of John Wesley's Journal every morning - a part of my daily reading discipline that is both spiritual edifying and helpful to my academic work. Last week I came across a reference by Wesley to Thomas a Kempis' Imitation of Christ. Wesley quotes Kempis as he reports his pastoral engagement with some struggling members of one of the Methodist societies:

Friday, May 5, 1749 - "This day and the next I endeavoured to see all the rest who were weary and faint in their minds. Most of them, I found, had not been used with sufficient tenderness. Who is there that sufficiently weighs the advice of Kempis, 'Noli duriter agere cum tentato'? - 'Deal not harshly with one that is tempted.'"

The reference comes from Book I, Chapter 13, of the Imitation of Christ. Kempis goes on to say the following in that same chapter:

"Some suffer great temptations int he beginning of their conversion, others toward the end, while some are troubled almost constantly throughout their life. Others, again, are tempted but lightly according to the wisdom and justice of Divine Providence. Who weighs the status and merit of each and prepares all for the salvation of His elect."

"We should not despair, therefore, when we are tempted, but pray to God the more fervently that He may see fit to help us, for according to the word of Paul, He will make issue with temptation that we may be able to bear it. Let us humble our souls under the hand of God in every trial and temptation for He will save and exalt the humble in spirit."

"In temptations and trials the progress of a man is measured; in them opportunity for merit and virtue is made more manifest."

"When a man is not troubled it is not hard for him to be fervent and devout, but if he bears up patiently in time of adversity, there is hope for great progress."

As I continue to read through both Wesley's Journal and Kempis' Imitation of Christ, I can see why the former was so drawn to the latter's meditation on the Christian life. He seemed to see not only a spiritual writer who spoke to his own life & ministry, but also one who offered a keen insight into the joys and struggles that all followers of Jesus face in this life.

Thinking about death

Live each day as if it were your last.

That's a slogan as likely to appear on an inspirational calendar as it is in anything connected with Christianity. But the idea is one that is rooted in Scripture. "The end of all things is near," Peter instructs us (1 Peter 4:7). We know that the eschaton is upon us, for, as the Apostle Paul teaches, "The present form of this world is passing away" (1 Corinthians 7:31).

Our youth-obsessed culture doesn't help us be very honest with this fact, though. We do everything we can to escape death - from avoiding the topic in conversation to avoiding the reality by separating it from regular daily life.

And yet, for all of us death is very close. "Life is but a passing shadow," Shakespeare wrote. We would all gain a clearer focus about the things of most importance if we would be clear about the brevity of life.

I say all that as a way to introduce another section of Thomas a Kempis' Imitation of Christ, which I wrote about a few days ago. Kempis offers powerful counsel about death in Book I.23:

"Very soon your life here will end ... Therefore, in every deed and every thought, acts as though you were to die this very day. If you had a good conscience you would not fear death very much. It is better to avoid sin than to fear death. If you are not prepared today, how will you be prepared tomorrow? Tomorrow is an uncertain day; how do you know you will have a tomorrow?"

"Blessed is he who keeps the moment of death ever before his eyes and prepares for it everyday."

"The present time is very precious; these are the days of salvation; now is the acceptable time. How sad that you do not spend the time in which you might purchase everlasting life in a better way. Time will come when you will want just one day, just one hour in which to make amends, and do you now whether you will obtain it?"

"Learn to die to the world now, that then you may begin to live with Christ. Learn to spurn all things now, that then you may freely go to Him. Chastise your body in penance now, that then you may have the confidence born of certainty."

A key to appreciating such passages, I think, is for us to stop seeing the contemplation of death as a morbid activity and instead to see it as a way to properly orient the lives with which God has blessed us in these days.

The Imitation of Christ

I've been re-reading some books from the "holy living tradition" that were very influential for John Wesley during his early adulthood. They're good sources for understanding how Wesley was influenced in his thinking about holiness of heart & life. But the real joy in reading them is that they are all spiritual classics that offer great insight into the way of holiness for Christians today.

One of the best is the meditation of Thomas a Kempis called, The Imitation of Christ. (That's him in the picture, by the way.) Kempis was a 15th-century Dutch monk who was a member of the Brothers of the Common Life. His masterpiece, The Imitation of Christ, has inspired countless people in their devotional lives since he penned it in the early 1400s.

John Wesley talks about its influence on him in the opening paragraphs of A Plain Account of Christian Perfection, where he writes, "In the year 1726, I met with Kempis's 'Christian's Pattern.' The nature and extent of inward religion, the religion of the heart, now appeared to me in a stronger light than ever it had done before ... I saw, that 'simplicity of intention, and purity of affection,' one design in all we speak or do, and one desire ruling all our tempers, are indeed 'the wings of the soul,' without which she can never ascend to the mount of God."

I would encourage you to pick up a copy of The Imitation of Christ, which is available in a number of different versions. (The Thomas Nelson edition is good for devotional reading; it's not currently in print but is available for next to nothing from used booksellers). Keep in mind that it should be read slowly and savored. It's best read meditatively along with your morning Scripture reading, which allows you to reflect on its words throughout your daily tasks.

I'll also share a few passages from it over the next few weeks. Here's one from the opening section:

"The teaching of Christ is more excellent than all the advice of the saints, and he who has His spirit will find in it a hidden manna. Now, there are many who hear the Gospel often but care little for it because they have not the spirit of Christ. Yet whoever wishes to understand fully the words of Christ must try to pattern his whole life on that of Christ" (I.1).

Words of wisdom.

And words by which to focus our spiritual lives.