so much loved, how much more to be loved is the very fountain and vast ocean of goodness! Oh, that my soul may love thee above all things, and love nothing else save only for thy sake!
§ 5. Love of self-mortification, or restraint of the heart and senses.
Christ. Thy desire is good; but in vain thou aspirest to love me, if thou hate not thyself. For the love of the flesh and the love of the Creator agree badly together: he, therefore, that loves his life shall lose it; but he that hates his life in this world, shall keep it to life eternal. Hence, if thou live according to the flesh, thou shalt die; but if; by the spirit, thou mortify the deeds of the flesh, thou shalt live. Without this wholesome self-hatred thou canst not be my disciple. So; therefore, mortify thy desires, thy senses, and thy members that are upon the earth, as not to do all that thou wouldst.
First, with all watchfulness keep thy heart, for it is from thence that life issues forth. A very precious treasure is that which I have entrusted thee with; but the vessel, enclosed in which thou bearest it about, is earthen, and liable even to more hazards than glass, — the casket of thy heart; and many are the plotting enemies to which it is exposed. And yet thou often betrayest it thyself, by thy careless watch over and abuse of thy senses.
Oh, how few are there that earnestly take heed to their ways, that they sin not with their tongue! whereas no tongue would suffice to recount the mischief and delinquencies that are caused by the tongue alone. But if any man think to be religious, not bridling his tongue, this man’s religion is vain. Knowest thou not thyself by frequent experience, that some perception of my love and relish of devotion is acquired only after much labour, and yet is easily dissipated by a few vain and idle words? See, then, of what consequence to progress in holiness is the regulation only of the tongue. But few reflect on this, though experience has taught them that much speaking is not without sin, and though I, who am the eternal Truth, have said, that for every idle word an account shall be rendered in the day of judgment.
Besides, a strict watch over the other senses conduces much to proficiency in my love, and to perseverance to the end. How many, alas, are there whose eyes have been the ruin of their souls! Of this thou hast an example in Dina, David, and many others; for he is happy and wise who learns from others’
