SECTION II.
The second general instrument of Holy Living, Purity of Intention.
That we should intend and
design God's glory in every action we do, whether it be natural or chosen, is
expressed by St. Paul,[14] "Whether ye eat or
drink, do all to the glory of God. Which rule, when we observe, every action of
nature becomes religious, and every meal is an act of worship, and shall have
its reward in its proportion, as well as an act of prayer. Blessed be that
grace and goodness of God, which, out of infinite desire to glorify and save
mankind, would make the very works of nature capable of becoming acts of
virtue, that all our life-time we may do him service.
This grace is so excellent that it sanctifies the
most common action of our life; and yet so necessary that, without it, the very
best actions of our devotion are imperfect and vicious. For he that prays out
of custom, or gives alms for praise, or fasts to be accounted religious, is but
a pharisee hypocrite in his fast. But a holy end sanctifies all these and all
other actions, which can be made holy, and gives distinction to them, and
procures acceptance.
For, as to know the end distinguishes a man from
a beast, so to choose a good end distinguishes him from an evil man. Hezekiah
repeated his good deeds upon his sick-bed, and obtained favour of God, but the
pharisee was accounted insolent for doing[15]
the same thing: because this man did it to upbraid his brother, the other to
obtain a mercy of God. Zacharias questioned with the angel about his message,
and was made speechless for his incredulity; but the blessed Virgin Mary
questioned too, and was blameless; for she did it to inquire after the manner
of the thing, but he did not believe the thing itself; he doubted of God's
power, or the truth of the messenger; but she only of her own incapacity. This
was it which distinguished the mourning of David from the exclamation of Saul;
the confession of Pharaoh from that of Manasses; the tears of Peter from the
repentance of Judas: `for the praise is not in the deed done, but in the manner
of its doing.'[16] If a man visits his sick
friend, and watches at his pillow for charity's sake, and because of his old
affection, we approve it; but if he does it in hope of legacy, he is a vulture,
and only watches for the carcass. The same things are honest and dishonest: the
manner of doing them, and the end of the design, makes the separation.'
Holy intention is to the actions of a man that
which the soul is to the body, or form to its matter, or the root to the tree,
or the sun to the world, or the fountain to a river, or the base to a pillar:
for, without these, the body is a dead trunk, the matter is sluggish, the tree
is a block, the world is darkness, the river is quickly dry, the pillar rushes
into flatness and a ruin; and the action is sinful, or unprofitable and vain.
The poor farmer that gave a dish of cold water to Artaxerxes was rewarded with
a golden goblet; and he that gives the same to a disciple in the name of a
disciple, shall have a crown; but if he gives water in dispute, when the
disciple needs wine or a cordial, his reward shall be to want that water to
cool his tongue.
1. In every action reflect upon the end; and
in your undertaking it, consider why you do it, and why you propound to
yourself for a reward, and to your actions as its end.
2. Begin every action in the name of the Father,
of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; the meaning of which is, 1, that we be
careful that we do not the action without the permission or warrant of God; 2,
that we design it to the glory of God, if not in the direct action, yet at
least in its consequence; if not in the particular, yet at least in the whole
order of things and accidents; 3, that it may be so blessed that what you
intend for innocent and holy purposes, may not, by any chance, or abuse, or
misunderstanding of men, be turned into evil, or made the occasion of sin.
3. Let every action of concernment be begun with
prayer, that God would not only bless the action, but sanctify your purpose;
and made an oblation of the action to God: holy and well intended actions being
the best oblations and presents we can make to God; and, when God is entitled
to them, he will the rather keep the fire upon the altar bright and shining.
4. In the prosecution of the action, renew and
re-enkindle your purpose by short ejaculations to these purposes: `Not unto us,
O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name, let all praise be given;' and consider:
"Now I am working the work of God; I am his servant, I am in a happy
employment, I am doing my master's business, I am not at my own dispose, I am
using his talents, and all the gain must be his:" for then be sure, as the
glory is his, so the reward shall be thine. If thou bringest his goods home
with increase, he will make thee ruler over cities.
5. Have a care, that, while the altar thus sends
up a holy frame, thou dost not suffer the birds to come and carry away the
sacrifice: that is, let not that which began well, and was intended for God's
glory, decline and end in thy own praise, or temporal satisfaction, or a sin. A
story, told to represent the vileness of unchastity, is well begun; but if thy
female auditor be pleased with thy language, and begins rather to like thy
person for thy story than to dislike the crime, be watchful, lest this goodly
head of gold descend in silver and brass, and end in iron and clay, like
Nebuchadnezzar's image; for from the end it shall have its name and reward.[17]
6. If any accidental event, which was not first
intended by thee, can come to pass, let it not be taken into thy purposes, not
at all be made use of; as if, by telling a true story, you can do an ill turn
to your enemy, by no means do it; but, when the temptation is found out, turn
all thy enmity upon that.
7. In every more solemn action of religion join
together many good ends, that the consideration of them may entertain all your
affections; and that, when any one ceases, the purity of your intention may be
supported by another supply. He that fasts only to tame a rebellious body, when
he is provided of a remedy either in grace or nature, may be tempted to leave
off his fasting. But be that in his fast intends the mortification of every
unruly appetite, and accustoming himself to bear the yoke of the Lord, a
contempt of the pleasures of meat and drink, humiliation of all wilder
thoughts, obedience and humility, austerity and charity, and the convenience
and assistance to devotion, and to do an act of repentance; whatever happens,
will have reason enough to make him to continue his purpose, and to sanctify
it. And certain it is, the more good ends are designed in an action the more
degrees of excellency the man obtains.
8. If any temptation to spoil your purpose
happens in a religious duty, do not presently omit the action, but rather
strive to rectify your intention, and to mortify the temptation. St. Bernard
taught us this rule: for when the devil, observing him to preach excellently
and to do much benefit to his hearers, tempted him to vain-glory, hoping that
the good man, to avoid that, would cease preaching, he gave this answer only,
"I neither began for thee, neither for thee will I make an end."
9. In all actions which are of long continuance,
deliberation, and abode, let your holy and pious intention be actual; that is,
that it be, by a special prayer or action, by a peculiar act of resignation or
oblation, given to God; but in smaller actions a pious habitual intention; that
is, that it be included within your general care that no action have an ill
end; and that it be comprehended in your general prayers, whereby you offer
yourself and all you do to God's glory.
10. Call not every temporal end a defiling of thy
intention, but only, 1, when it contradicts any of the ends of God; or 2, when
it is principally intended in an action of religion. For sometimes a temporal
end is part of our duty; and such are all the actions of our calling, whether
our employment be religious or civil. We are commanded to provide for our
family; but if the minister of divine offices shall take upon him that holy
calling for covetous or ambitious ends, or shall not design the glory of God
principally and especially, he hath polluted his hands and his heart; and the
fire of the altar is quenched, or it sends forth nothing but the smoke of
mushrooms or unpleasant gums. And it is a great unworthiness to prefer the
interest of a creature before the ends of God, the Almighty Creator.
But because many cases may happen in which a
man's heart may deceive him, and he may not well know what is in his own
spirit; therefore, by these following signs, we shall best make a judgment
whether our intentions be pure and our purposes holy.
1. It is probable our hearts[18] are right with God, and our intentions innocent and
pious, if we set upon actions of religion or civil life with an affection
proportionate to the quality of the work; that we act our temporal affairs with
a desire no greater than our necessity; and that in actions of religion we be
zealous, active, and operative, so far as prudence will permit; but, in all
cases, that we value a religious design before a temporal, when otherwise they
are in equal order to their several ends: that is, that whatsoever is necessary
in order to our soul's health be higher esteemed than what is for bodily; and
the necessities, the indispensable necessities of the spirit, be served before
the needs of nature, when they are required in their several circumstances; or
plainer yet, when we choose any temporal inconvenience, rather than to commit a
sin, and when we choose to do a duty, rather than to get gain. But he that does
his recreation or his merchandise cheerfully, promptly, readily, and busily,
and the works of religion slowly, flatly, and without appetite; and the spirit
moves like Pharaoh's chariots when the wheels were off; it is a sign that his
heart is not right with God, but it cleaves too much to the world.
2. It is likely our hearts are pure and our
intentions spotless, when we are not solicitous of the opinion and censures of
men: but only that we do our duty, and be accepted of God. For our eyes will
certainly be fixed there from whence we expect our reward: and if we desire
that God should approve us, it is a sign we do his work, and expect him our
paymaster.
3. He that does as well in private, between God
and his own soul, as in public, in pulpits, in theaters, and market-places,
hath given himself a good testimony that his purposes are full of honesty,
nobleness, and integrity. For what Helkanah said to the mother of Samuel, `Am I
not better to thee than ten sons?' is most certainly verified concerning God;
that he, who is to be our judge, is better than ten thousand witnesses. But he
that would have his virtue published, studies not virtue, but glory. "He is not
just[19] that will not be just without praise:
but he is a righteous man that does justice, when to do so is made infamous;
and he is a wise man who is delighted with an ill name that is well gotten."
And indeed that man hath a strange[20]
covetousness, or folly, that is not contented with this reward, that he hath
pleased God. And see what he gets by it. He that does good works[21] for praise or secular ends, sells an inestimable jewel
for a trifle; and that which would purchase heaven for him, he parts with for
the breath of the people; which, at best, is but air, and that not often
wholesome.
4. It is well, also, when we are not solicitous
or troubled concerning the effect and event of all our actions; but that being
first by prayer recommended to him, is left at his dispose: for then, in case
the event be not answerable to our desires, or to the efficacy of the
instrument, we have nothing left to rest in but the honesty of our purposes;
which it is the more likely we have secured, by how much more we are
indifferent concerning the success. St. James converted but eight persons, when
he preached in Spain; and our blessed Saviour converted fewer than his own
disciples did; and if thy labours prove unprosperous, if thou beset much
troubled at that, it is certain thou didst not think thyself secure of a reward
for thine intention; which thou mightst have done if it had been pure and
just.
5. He loves virtue for God's sake and its own
that loves and honours it wherever it is to be seen; but he that is envious or
angry at a virtue that is not his own, at the perfection or excellency of his
neighbour, is not covetous of the virtue, but of its reward and reputation; and
then his intentions are polluted. It was a great ingenuity in Moses that wished
all the people might be prophets; but if he had designed his own honour, he
would have prophesied alone. But he that desires only that the work of God and
religion shall go on, is pleased with it whosoever is the instrument.
6. He that despises the world, and all its
appendant vanities, is the best judge, and the most secured of his intentions;
because he is the farthest removed from temptation. Every degree of
mortification is a testimony of the purity of our purposes; and in what degree
we despise sensual pleasure, or secular honours, or worldly reputation, in the
same degree we shall conclude our heart right to religion and spiritual
designs.
7. When we are not solicitous concerning the
instruments and means of our actions, but use those means which God hath laid
before us, with resignation, indifferency, and thankfulness, it is a good sign
that we are rather intent upon the end of God's glory than our own conveniency,
or temporal satisfaction. He that is indifferent whether he serve God in riches
or in poverty, is rather a seeker of God than of himself; and he that will
throw away a good book because it is not curiously gilded, is more curious to
please his eye than to inform his understanding.
8. When a temporal end consisting with a
spiritual, and pretended to be subordinate to it, happens to fail and be
defeated if we can rejoice in that, so God's glory may be secured, and the
interests of religion, it is a great sign our hearts are right, and our ends
prudently designed and ordered.
When our intentions are thus balanced, regulated,
and discerned, we may consider, 1. That this exercise is of so universal
efficacy in the whole course of a holy life that it is like the soul to every
holy action, and must be provided for in every undertaking; and is, of itself
alone, sufficient to make all natural and indifferent actions to be adopted
into the family of religion.
2. That there are some actions, which are usually
reckoned as parts of our religion, which yet, of themselves, are so relative
and imperfect, that, without the purity of intention, they degenerate: and
unless they be directed and proceed on to those purposes which God designed
them to, they return into the family of common secular, or sinful actions.
Thus, alms are for charity, fasting for temperance, prayer is for religion,
humiliation is for humility, austerity or sufferance is in order to the virtue
of patience; and when these actions fail of their several ends, or are not
directed to their own purposes, alms are misspent, fasting is an impertinent
trouble, prayer is but lip-labour, humiliation is but hypocisy, sufferance is
but vexation; for such were the alms of the pharisee, the fast of Jezebel, the
prayer of Judah reproved by the prophet Isaiah, the humiliation of Ahab, the
martyrdom of heretics; in which nothing is given to God but the body, or the
forms of religion; but the soul and the power of godliness is wholly
wanting.
3. We are to consider that no intention can
sanctify an unholy or unlawful action. Saul, the king, disobeyed God's
commandment, and spared the cattle of Amalek to reserve the best for sacrifice;
and Saul, the pharisee, persecuted the church of God with a design to do God
service; and they that killed the apostles had also good purposes, but they had
unhallowed actions. When there be both truth in election, and charity in the
intention;[22] when we go to God in ways of
his own choosing or approving, then our eye is single, and our hands are clean,
and our hearts are pure. But when a man does evil that good may come of it, or
good to an evil purpose, that man does like him that rolls himself in thorns
that he may sleep easily; he roasts himself in the fire that he may quench his
thirst with his own sweat; he turns his face to the east that he may go to bed
with the sun. I end this with the saying of a wise heathen:[23] "He is to be called evil that is good only for his own
sake. Regard not how full hands you bring to God, but how pure. Many cease from
sin out of fear alone, not out of innocence or love of virtue;" and they, as
yet, are not to be called innocent but timorous.
[14] 1 Cor. x. 31
[15] Atticus eximie si coenat, lautus,
habetur; Si Rutilus, demens -
[16] Seneca.
[17] Qui turatur ut maechetur, maechus est
magis quam fur.
[18] See Sect. I. of this Chapter, Rule 18.
[19] Seneca, Ep. 113.
[20] St. Chrys. 1. ii. de Compun. Cordis.
[21] St. Greg. Moral. 8, cap. xxv.
[22] St. Bern. lib. de Praecpt.
[23] Publius Mimus