This week we are reading through chapters 26-30 of Book III of The Imitation of Christ. In Meditation 27, á Kempis draws from the study of the seven deadly sins to speak of those loves that block us from attaining the highest good. If you remember back to our discussion of the seven capital sins a couple of years ago, these inclinations result from a misdirected love. We were created and commanded to love the Lord with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength. Deut. 6:5, Matt. 22:37. That love, however, can be bent either internally resulting in pride, anger, and envy, or bent externally towards the material world resulting in greed, gluttony, or lust. Therefore, á Kempis encourages us to keep our love of God alone. In the Purgatorio, after Dante completes his journey through the purgatorial terraces and stands at the entry to Eden, Virgil departs with these words:
Await no further word or sign from me:
Canto XXVII, lines 139-42
Your will is free, erect, and whole – to act
Against the will would be to err: therefore
I crown and miter you over yourself
As you read through these meditations this week, think about what it means to have a bent and misdirected loves and what it means to have our will restored to be free, erect, and whole.
Dinner is at 6. The menu is fried chicken. Discussion about 6:45. Hope to see you here.
Why should I be afraid in evil days, *
Psalm 49
when the wickedness of those at my heels surrounds me,
The wickedness of those who put their trust in their goods, *
and boast of their great riches?
For we see that the wise die also;
like the dull and stupid they perish *
and leave their wealth to those who come after them.
Even though honored, they cannot live forever; *
they are like the beasts that perish.
Such is the way of those who foolishly trust in themselves, *
and the end of those who delight in their own words.
But God will ransom my life; *
he will snatch me from the grasp of death.