The Fifty-Eighth Chapter
High Matters and the Hidden Judgments of God Are Not to Be Scrutinized
(part one)
The Voice of Christ
MY CHILD, beware of discussing high matters and God’s hidden judgments—why this person is so forsaken and why that one is favored with so great a grace, or why one man is so afflicted and another so highly exalted. Such things are beyond all human understanding and no reason or disputation can fathom the judgments of God.
When the enemy puts such suggestions in your mind, therefore, or when some curious persons raise questions about them, answer with the prophet: “Thou art just, O Lord, and righteous are Thy judgments”; Ps. 119:137. and this: “The judgments of the Lord are true and wholly righteous.” Ps. 19:9. My judgments are to be feared, not discussed, because they are incomprehensible to the understanding of men.
In like manner, do not inquire or dispute about the merits of the saints, as to which is more holy, or which shall be greater in the kingdom of heaven. Such things often breed strife and useless contentions. They nourish pride and vainglory, whence arise envy and quarrels, when one proudly tries to exalt one saint and the other another. A desire to know and pry into such matters brings forth no fruit. On the contrary, it displeases the saints, because I am the God, not of dissension, but of peace—of that peace which consists in true humility rather than in self-exaltation.
I think what Thomas a Kempis is trying to tell us is to don't be petty over small things. Watch our gossip. I know I tend to justify my gossip in thinking I am just clearing something up or I need to be sure about this...we need to be at peace and not bother with other peoples business.
THY WILL BE DONE!!! +JMJ+
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