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The principal evils into which a man may fall through
vain rejoicing in his good works and habits I find to
be seven; and they are very hurtful because they are
spiritual.2. The first evil is vanity, pride,
vainglory and presumption; for a man cannot rejoice
in his works without esteeming them. And hence arise
boasting and like things, as is said of the Pharisee
in the Gospel, who prayed and congratulated himself
before God,[613] boasting that he fasted and did
other good works.
3. The second evil is usually linked with this: it
is our judging others, by comparison with ourselves,
as wicked and imperfect, when it seems to us that
their acts and good works are inferior to our own; we
esteem them the less highly in our hearts, and at
times also in our speech.
This evil was likewise that of the Pharisee, for
in his prayer he said: 'I thank Thee that I am not as
other men are: robbers, unjust and adulterers.'[614]
So that by one single act he fell into these two
evils, esteeming himself and despising others, as do
many nowadays, saying: I am not like such a man, nor
do I do this and that, as does such or such a man.
And many of these are even worse than the Pharisee.
He, it is true, not only despised others, but also
pointed to an individual, saying: 'Nor am I like this
publican.' But they, not satisfied with either of
these things, go so far as to be angry and envious
when they see that others are praised, or do more, or
are of greater use, than themselves.
4. The third evil is that, as they look for
pleasure in their good works, they usually perform
them only when they see that some pleasure and praise
will result from them. And thus, as Christ says, they
do everything ut videantur ab hominibus,[615] and
work not for the love of God alone.
5. The fourth evil follows from this. It is that
they will have no reward from God, since they have
desired in this life to have joy or consolation or
honour or some other kind of interest as a result of
their good works: of such the Saviour says that
herein they have received their reward.[616] And thus
they have had naught but the labour of their work and
are confounded, and receive no reward.
There is so much misery among the sons of men
which has to do with this evil that I myself believe
that the greater number of good works which they
perform in public are either vicious or will be of no
value to them, or are imperfect in the sight of God,
because they are not detached from these human
intentions and interests. For what other judgment can
be formed of some of the actions which certain men
perform, and of the memorials which they set up, when
they will not perform these actions at all unless
they are surrounded by human respect and honour,
which are the vanity of life, or unless they can
perpetuate in these memorials their name, lineage or
authority, even setting up their emblems and
escutcheons in the very churches, as if they wished
to set themselves, in the stead of images, in places
where all bend the knee?
In these good works which some men perform, may it
not be said that they are worshipping[617] themselves
more than God? This is certainly true if they perform
them for the reason described and otherwise would not
perform them at all. But leaving aside these, which
are the worst cases, how many are there who fall into
these evils in their good works in many ways?
Some wish to be praised, others to be thanked,
others enumerate their good works and desire that
this person and that shall know of them, and indeed
the whole world; and sometimes they wish an
intermediary to present their alms, or to perform
other of their charitable deeds,[618] so that more
may be known of them; and some desire all these
things. This is the sounding of the trumpet, which,
says the Saviour in the Gospel, vain men do, for
which reason they shall have no reward for their
works from God.[619]
6. In order to flee from this evil, such persons
must hide their good works so that God alone may see
them, and must not desire anyone to take notice of
them. And they must hide them, not only from others,
but even from themselves. That is to say, they must
find no satisfaction in them, nor esteem them as if
they were of some worth, nor derive pleasure from
them at all.
It is this that is spiritually indicated in those
words of Our Lord: 'Let not thy left hand know what
they right hand doeth.[620] Which is as much to say:
Esteem not with thy carnal and temporal eye the work
that thou doest spiritually. And in this way the
strength of the will is concentrated upon God, and a
good deed bears fruit in His sight; so that not only
will it not be lost, but it will be of great merit.
And in this sense must be understood that passage
from Job: 'If I have kissed my hand with my mouth,
which is a great sin and iniquity, and my heart hath
rejoiced in secret.'[621] Here by the hand is
understood good works, and by the mouth is understood
the will which finds satisfaction in them. And since
this is, as we say, finding satisfaction in oneself,
he says: If my heart hath rejoiced in secret, which
is a great iniquity against God and a denial of Him.
And this is as though he were to say that he had no
satisfaction, neither did his heart rejoice in
secret.
7. The fifth of these evils is that such persons
make no progress on the road of perfection. For,
since they are attached to the pleasure and
consolation which they find in their good works, it
follows that, when they find no such pleasure and
consolation in their good works and exercises, which
ordinarily happens when God desires to lead them on,
by giving them the dry bread of the perfect and
taking from them the milk of babes, in order to prove
their strength and to purge their delicate appetites
so that they may be able to enjoy the food of grown
men, they commonly faint and cease to persevere,
because their good works give them no pleasure.
In this way may be spiritually understood these
words of the Wise Man: 'Dying flies spoil the
sweetness of ointment.'[622] For, when any
mortification comes to these persons, they die to
their good works and cease to practise them; and thus
they lose their perseverance, wherein are found
sweetness of spirit and interior consolation.
8. The sixth of these evils is that such persons
commonly deceive themselves, thinking that the things
and good works which give them pleasure must be
better than those that give them none. They praise
and esteem the one kind and depreciate the other; yet
as a rule those works whereby a man is most greatly
mortified (especially when he is not proficient in
perfection) are more acceptable and precious in the
sight of God, by reason of the self-denial which a
man must observe in performing them, than are those
wherein he finds consolation and which may very
easily be an occasion of self-seeking.
And in this connection Micheas says of them: Malum
manuum suarum dicunt bonum.[623] That is: That which
is bad in their works they call good. This comes to
them because of the pleasure which they take in their
good works, instead of thinking only of giving
pleasure to God. The extent to which this evil
predominates, whether in spiritual men or in ordinary
persons, would take too long to describe, for hardly
anyone can be found who is moved to do such works
simply for God's sake, without the attraction of some
advantage of consolation or pleasure, or some other
consideration.
9. The seventh evil is that, in so far as a man
stifles not vain rejoicing in moral works, he is to
that extent incapable of receiving reasonable counsel
and instruction with regard to good works that he
should perform. For he is lettered by the habit of
weakness that he has acquired through performing good
works with attachment to vain rejoicing; so that he
cannot consider the counsel of others as best, or,
even if he considers it to be so, he cannot follow
it, through not having the necessary strength of
mind.
Such persons as this are greatly weakened in
charity toward God and their neighbour; for the
self-love with respect to their good works in which
they indulge causes their charity to grow cold. |