The Warfare of the Soul Part 6

[8] Heb. ii, 18.

[9] Heb. iv, 15.

[10] St. James i, 2.

[11] 1 St. Peter i, 7.

[12] 2 St. John 8.

[13] Rev. iii, 11.

[14] Office of Holy Baptism.

[15] 1 Pet. v, 4.

[16] 2 Sam. xi, 11.

[17] 2 Cor. ii, 7.

[18] 2 Cor. xii, 9. "Weakness is the guardian of our strength."--Pusey, _Parochial Sermons_, II, 337, quoting St. Greg. Mag.

[19] Ps. xx, 2.

[20] _Imitation_, III, x.x.xv. "It happens sometimes that men's souls are shipwrecked through evil thoughts, but also it is by the entering in of such thoughts that we become worthy of being crowned."--_Verba Seniarum_, x, 86. Quoted by Hannay in _The Wisdom of the Desert_, p.

221.

[21] _Imitation_, I, xiii.

[22] Andrewes, _Sermons_, Vol. V, p. 501.

[23] Archbishop Leighton, _Commentary_, in loc.

[24] Andrewes, _Sermons_, Vol. V, p. 501-502.

[25] Rom. xiv, 17.

[26] Phil. iv, 7.

[27] _Imitation_, I, xiii.

[28] St. Matt. x, 24.

[29] St. James iv, 8.

[30] Ps. lx.x.xv, 8.

[31] Ps. xxix, 4.

[32] Ps. cxlviii, 5.

[33] St. Francis de Sales, _Spiritual Conferences_, p. 138.

[34] Hilton, _The Scale of Perfection_, Bk. II, Pt. I, ch. viii.

"A certain brother came to the Abbot Pastor, and said, 'Many evil thoughts come into my mind, and I am in danger through them.' The old man led him out into the air, and said to him, 'Stretch yourself out, and stop the wind from blowing.' The brother, wondering at his words, replied, 'I cannot do that.' Then the old man said to him, 'If you cannot stop the wind from blowing, neither can you prevent evil thoughts from entering your mind. That is beyond your power; but one thing you can do,--conquer them.'"--_Verba Seniorum_, xi, 50. Quoted by Hannay, p. 217.

[35] St. James i, 12.

{62}

CHAPTER V

THE SPIRIT OF SOLICITUDE

Thomas a Kempis tells us that since the life of man upon earth is a temptation, "Everyone ought therefore to be anxious about his temptations and to watch in prayer."[1]

I. _True and False Anxiety_

The anxiety to which we are exhorted is not, however, that att.i.tude of mind and heart which would follow upon any uncertainty, or want of a.s.surance, in regard to the result. The word a Kempis uses gives, in its original significance, no such suggestion. It is _sollicitus_, which has the force of _being wholly aroused_. That is to say, because life on earth is a temptation, we are warned that our whole being must be stirred in the face of such a condition.

There must not be a single faculty that is not keen and alert to enter, at a moment's notice, upon the conflict. Every part of our nature must be as a soldier fully armed, standing ready to {63} spring instantly forward to the conflict at the word of command.[2]

The anxiety that engenders doubt and fear is indeed too often found among G.o.d's people. "It is never free from imperfections and always springs from some evil root of self-love,"[3] and is the result more of a lack of faith than of any true, supernatural solicitude for the safety of our souls. We can well afford to leave all these cares with G.o.d. Says the saintly writer we have been quoting, "Greater is Thy anxiety for me than all the care that I can take for myself; for he stands precariously who casts not all his anxiety upon Thee."[4]

The true Christian anxiety is closely akin to the virtue of Holy Fear, which, as we know, is one of the special gifts of the Holy Ghost. We are anxious about our temptations and the possibilities of sin, because we have a dread of offending a Father whose love has ever been poured out upon us in most precious benefactions. The soul recognizing G.o.d's goodness, and His tender, {64} fatherly love, shrinks from the baseness and ingrat.i.tude of wounding that love. We are not afraid of G.o.d; we are afraid of offending G.o.d because we love Him. There are few virtues that are so immediately rooted in love as Holy Fear. Of course, we have no reference to that servile fear which St. John tells us is cast out by perfect love.[5] He refers to the fear of the slave who dreads to offend because he is afraid of the lash. Holy Fear is the fear that is aroused in the pure heart of a little child who shrinks from that which would wound the love of a tender father. We find the true expression of our filial anxiety in the familiar words of Faber's hymn:

"Oh, how I fear Thee, living G.o.d, With deepest, tenderest fears, And worship Thee with trembling hope, And penitential tears."

II. _Worry Versus Faith_

The presence of worry is proof of absence of trust in G.o.d. The two cannot abide in the same heart; and there is no more subtle device of the tempter than this of arousing in us the spirit of worry concerning our temptations. It is a temptation within a temptation, and this very {65} complication has the effect of sadly clouding the real issue.

We have the word of the Holy Ghost that "G.o.d is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able."[6] The word _faithful_ as used here by St. Paul signifies faithfulness in carrying out an agreement. It is implied that G.o.d has entered into a covenant with the soul that He will permit no temptation beyond our strength to a.s.sail us. The Apostle says that G.o.d is faithful and will fulfil His part in this covenant. But the soul that admits worry is, in substance, saying that it is not convinced of G.o.d's faithfulness in the matter, and considers, in spite of the promise, that there is much to fear.

Worry is the mother of an innumerable brood of sins. Well did the Psalmist say, "Fret not thyself else shalt thou be moved to do evil."[7] He knew somewhat of the sources of sin. His own experience, as well as the inspiration of the Spirit, had taught him that the fretted soul was a fair target for a hundred darts of the enemy. "The very sound of the word anxiety is painful," says a modern writer; "next to sin there is {66} nothing that so much troubles the mind, strains the heart, distresses the soul, and confuses the judgment."[8] Imagine an army troubled, strained, distressed, confused; what possible chance would it have of victory against a powerful and confident foe? It would be the plaything of the enemy, as indeed the human soul often is when it allows itself to be unnerved by a false anxiety.

Thus we see that the anxious soul is the doubting soul, and the soul that doubts G.o.d's goodness and loving care in the midst of the trial and conflict has already flung away its weapons and prepared the terms of its surrender to Satan. Even if our own experience did not teach us better, His word, so often repeated, should rea.s.sure us. What can be more comforting than the many pa.s.sages concerning the divine care and compa.s.sion with which the Scriptures teem?

We recall the final summing up of the last great blessing which Moses gave his people from G.o.d before he went up into the mount to be seen of them no more. "The eternal G.o.d is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms."[9] Do these words leave room for anxious doubt that in every a.s.sault of the enemy He will be with us? Or those other words that have brought strong {67} consolation to so many souls in the midst of the conflict: "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee"?[10]

Would that we could learn the lesson as the Psalmist learned it, that we might rest upon the divine compa.s.sion, not enervated as we too often are by human sympathy, but with our hearts thrilling with courage, fearing naught, knowing that He is faithful that hath promised,[11] and should the battle prove too strong He will save and deliver. "He shall send down from on high to fetch me; and shall take me out of many waters."[12]