Of the Imitation of Christ (One)
In the Fall of 1979, the author of these articles was
a Presbyterian seminarian at Princeton Theological Seminary. While perusing
books at the Princeton University Bookstore, a paperback book (only $1.95
then!) called, Of The Imitation of Christ, caught my eye. The book was by
Thomas À Kempis, identified as a monk. Immediately my then anti-Catholic alerts
went off: warning!
But he wrote prior to the Protestant Reformation when the Church (at least in the West) was one, so, I reasoned, this should be the Christian teaching we all believe. And it was published by Baker Book House which I knew to be a good Protestant publishing house.
But he wrote prior to the Protestant Reformation when the Church (at least in the West) was one, so, I reasoned, this should be the Christian teaching we all believe. And it was published by Baker Book House which I knew to be a good Protestant publishing house.
The back
cover says: “For five hundred years, this gentle book, filled with the spirit
of the love of God, has brought understanding and comfort to millions of
readers in over fifty languages, and provided them with a source of heart-felt
personal prayer. These meditations on the life and teachings of Jesus, written
in times even more troubled and dangerous than our own, have become second only
to the Bible as a guide and inspiration.”
Wow! Second
to the Bible – and I had never heard of it before? So, even in my then
anti-Catholic prejudice, I figured it was “safe” for me to read.
What
astonished me as I opened it up was its use of the Bible – amazingly extensive,
wonderfully insightful, with a depth I had never seen (and I had just completed
a BA in religious studies at Westmont College)! That spiritual depth astonished
me–I had never heard of Christian spirituality in many of these terms but I
knew the Bible well enough to know it was right on. I spontaneously moved from
reading while sitting at the desk to kneeling by the bed to pray over every
word. It profoundly moved and changed me, I hungered for more, and it drove me
further to the Lord.
There are
many versions of “The Imitation of Christ” available, including free online
versions. If you like the older English of the Douay-Rheims or King James
Bibles, then you might look for an older text version – but there are many good
modern ones as well. Also, the one I purchased has each sentence typed as a
separate short paragraph making the reading much more conducive to meditation and
prayer than those that are printed as very large paragraphs.
The
following excerpt is from the beginning of Book II on “Meditation.”
“The
kingdom of God is within you, saith the Lord.
“Turn thee
with all thine heart to the Lord and forsake this miserable world, and thou
shalt find rest unto thy soul....
“For the
kingdom of God is peace and joy in the Holy Ghost....
“Christ
will come to thee, and show thee His consolation, if thou prepare a worthy
mansion for Him within thee.
“All His
glory and beauty is from within, and there it pleaseth Him to dwell.
“He often
visiteth the inward man and holdeth with him sweet discourse, giving him
soothing consolation, much peace, friendship exceeding wonderful.
“Go to,
faithful soul, prepare thy heart for this bridegroom that he may vouchsafe to
come to thee and dwell within thee, for so He saith, if any man loveth me he
will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him and
make our abode with him.
“Give,
therefore, place to Christ and refuse entrance to all others.
“When thou
hast Christ, thou art rich, and hast sufficient.
“He shall be thy provider and faithful
watchman in all things, so that thou hast no need to trust in men, for men soon
change and swiftly pass away, but Christ remaineth for ever and standeth by us
firmly even to the end.”
Dibby Green
Originally published in the print edition of the Mojave Desert News on July 25, 2019.
Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church is located in California City, CA. Visit our website at ollcalcity.org.Blog Home: https://ollchurch.blogspot.com