"Know then, that God no sooner finds us resolved to attain solid virtue than He sends us trials of the severest kind. Convinced of His immense love for us and His Fatherly solicitude for our spiritual advancement, we ought with gratitude to drink to the dregs of the chalice that He is pleased to offer us, confident that it's beneficial character will be in proportion to it's bitterness"
~ excerpt from The Spiritual Combat and a Treatise on Peace of Soul.
This message runs so counter to the message of the world and even to the modern image of Jesus. That God will respond to our seeking of Him in such a way can almost seem cruel. We can't imagine why a God we seek so much to love would respond by basically beating the daylights out of us.
This book is considered one of the classics for good reason. It penetrates this difficult paradox that Catholics face and pop culture mocks.
The paradox lies in reconciling the concept of peace with utter bombardment of negative thought and the constant harassment of really despicable people.
The paradox lies in reconciling the words of Jesus to not be afraid with a hundred thousand problems to face and obstacles to overcome.
The challenge is in the oft-repeated words that to be a man or woman of faith is to love the unlovable, to believe the unbelievable, to forgive the unforgivable, to endure the unendurable and to hope for the hopeless.
The crazy thing is that some people manage to apprehend it and, for the rest of us, the challenge is to strive to know what they know and do what they do.
Why is it so difficult and why do so few find it?
It is because you have to be willing to suffer and that is a hard pill for all of us.
In order to learn the virtue of humility, you must suffer humiliation. In order to learn the virtue of patience, you must be forced to wait. In order to learn the virtue of gratitude, you must experience want. To truly appreciate food and drink, you must experience hunger and thirst. To truly prize God's rest, you must know what exhaustion is.
To truly appreciate love, you must learn to deal with being hated and persecuted.
The Spiritual Combat is a war with self and it's a war that is going to get bloody.
In the war of love, only wounded soldiers can serve.
~ Thornton Wilder
If you come across a person who is truly striving for holiness but getting the daylights beat out of them by life, comfort such a person and assure them that they are on the right path. Discouragement is one of the most effective weapons of the devil.
True discipleship means death to self and it is impossible for that to occur without pain. When God sends storms into a life that is seeking Him, t is not to discourage that person, it is to test that person. What price are you willing to pay?
Are you willing to suffer rejection, scorn and contempt? Are you willing to swallow your pride and make the painful apology? are you willing to accept the menial task and be the team player rather than always hogging the spotlight?
If you are not, you are a fraud.
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