God in his very essence is truth and light, and when he enters his temple he drives ignorance and darkness out of it, revealing himself in all his brightness. When truth enters in and is recognized, then trafficking must go out; truth can tolerate no trafficking with God. God is not selfish, but in all his works he is free, being directed wholly by perfect love...
And let me insist: As long as a man in all his good works seeks or desires as his controlling motive what God may give him as a recompense, so long is he like the traffickers in the Temple. If you will be over and done with all such trafficking, then do all the good that you do for God's praise alone, and stand as entirely free as if there were to be no return made to you. Then your good deeds become entirely spiritual and Godlike. Then are all traffickers driven out of the temple of your soul. God alone dwells in the soul of a man that in his good works takes him and him alone into account. This is then the purifying of the soul from all self-seeking, God and his honor becoming the end and purpose of all.
-Father John Tauler
No comments:
Post a Comment