There is naturally in every man a desire to know, but what profits knowledge without the fear of God? Better of a surety is a lowly peasant who serves God, than a proud philosopher who watches the stars and neglects the knowledge of himself.
He who knows himself well is vile in his own sight; neither regards he the praises of men. If I knew all the things that are in the world, and were not in charity, what should it help me before God, who is to judge me according to my deeds?
✦ The Proud Philosopher and the Lowly Peasant
Kempis wastes no time. The very first chapter of the Imitation draws the sharpest line in Christendom — not between the learned and the ignorant, but between the one who knows God and the one who only knows about Him. The proud philosopher watches the stars. He maps the heavens. He names the constellations. But he neglects the knowledge of himself — and in that neglect, he misses everything.
The lowly peasant who serves God stands higher. Not because ignorance is a virtue, but because service is. The peasant knows one thing the philosopher has forgotten: that knowledge without the fear of God profits nothing. That all the mysteries in the world, stacked to the ceiling, weigh nothing on the scales of the last judgment — where the question is not what did you know? but what did you love?
Paul said it before Kempis: if I understand all mysteries and all knowledge, but have not love, I am nothing. Not "I have less." I am nothing. The arithmetic is absolute.
Rest from inordinate desire of knowledge, for in it is found much distraction and deceit. Those who have knowledge desire to appear learned, and to be called wise.
Many things there are to know which profits little or nothing to the soul. And foolish out of measure is he who attends upon other things rather than those which serve to his soul's health.
Many words satisfy not the soul, but a good life refreshes the mind, and a pure conscience gives great confidence towards God.
✦ Many Words Satisfy Not the Soul
This is the line that landed and would not let go. Many words satisfy not the soul. Not many books. Not many sermons. Not many arguments or proofs or theological systems. Words. Even true words. Even beautiful words. Even Scripture memorized and theology mastered — if they remain only words, they satisfy nothing.
But a good life refreshes the mind. A life — not a library. And a pure conscience gives great confidence towards God. Not a brilliant conscience. Not a well-read conscience. A pure one. The confidence before God does not come from knowing enough. It comes from living honestly — from the life that matches what the mouth professes.
Kempis calls the desire for knowledge inordinate — not wrong, but disordered. Out of proportion. Attending to other things rather than what serves the soul's health. The soul has a health, and most knowledge does nothing for it. The question is not how much do I know? but how well am I living?
The greater and more complete your knowledge, the more severely shall you be judged, unless you have lived holily. Therefore be not lifted up by any skill or knowledge that you have; but rather fear concerning the knowledge which is given to you.
If it seems to you that you knowest many things, and understandest them well, know also that there are many more things which you knowest not. Be not high-minded, but rather confess your ignorance.
Why desirest you to lift yourself above another, when there are found many more learned and more skilled in the Scripture than you? If you will know and learn anything with profit, love to be yourself unknown and to be counted for nothing.
✦ Love to Be Yourself Unknown
Love to be yourself unknown and to be counted for nothing. This is not resignation. It is not self-hatred. It is not false modesty. Kempis calls it the highest and most profitable lesson — the summit, not the basement. The soul that has climbed the highest sees most clearly how small it is — and finds in that smallness not shame but freedom.
The freedom to stop performing. The freedom to stop comparing. The freedom to look at another who is more learned and more skilled in the Scripture and feel no envy, no threat, no need to compete — because the contest was an illusion. There was never a prize for knowing the most. The prize is for loving the most. And love does not compete.
"I count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord." — Philippians 3:8. Great freedom — to love to be yourself unknown and to be counted for nothing.
Paul arrived at the same place from the opposite direction. Paul had the knowledge — circumcised the eighth day, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews, concerning the law a Pharisee. He could have competed with anyone. And he counted it all loss. Not because it was worthless in itself, but because next to the excellence of knowing Christ, it weighed nothing. The same freedom Kempis describes — love to be unknown — Paul discovered on the Damascus road. Everything that once elevated him became the very thing he was willing to lose.
That is the highest and most profitable lesson, when a man truly knows and judgeth lowly of himself. To account nothing of one's self, and to think always kindly and highly of others, this is great and perfect wisdom.
Even shouldest you see your neighbor sin openly or grievously, yet you oughtest not to reckon yourself better than he, for you knowest not how long you shall keep your integrity.
All of us are weak and frail; hold you no man more frail than yourself.
✦ You Know Not How Long
For you knowest not how long you shall keep your integrity. This is Kempis at his most devastating — and most merciful. Devastating because it strips away the last hiding place. The soul that has avoided the pride of knowledge, the pride of reputation, the pride of learning, might still harbor one final pride: the pride of not having fallen. And Kempis removes that too. You do not know how long. Not "you might fall" — but you do not even know the hour.
The one who watches a neighbor sin openly and feels safe has misunderstood everything. All of us are weak and frail. Every single one. The greatest saint and the worst sinner separated by nothing but grace — the same grace that can be withdrawn, the same integrity that is kept only by His hand, not by our own strength.
Paul brings the same sobriety: not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. Romans 12:3. Even the faith is assigned. Even the measure is given. Sober judgment — not self-hatred, not self-exaltation. The clear-eyed knowledge that whatever integrity remains is a gift, not an achievement.
Ser alguém pouco profundo ou frívolo não é sinal de perversão. As amenidades comuns da vida (comer, beber, andar, falar) são todas ordenadas por Deus. Nelas também Nosso Senhor viveu. Elas participaram da existência do Filho de Deus, e ele declarou que "o discípulo não supera seu mestre."
✦ The Common Amenities — Ordained by God
After Kempis has emptied everything — stripped away the pride of knowledge, the pride of reputation, the pride of not having fallen — what remains? Chambers arrives with the answer, carried in Consuelo's Portuguese: the ordinary things. Eating, drinking, walking, talking. The common amenities of life. And they are not leftovers after the stripping. They are ordained by God.
The Son of God Himself lived in them. He ate bread. He drank wine. He walked dusty roads. He talked with fishermen and tax collectors and women at wells. The common amenities participated in the existence of the Son of God. They were not beneath Him. They were not distractions from His mission. They were the fabric of His incarnation.
And the disciple is not above his master. If Christ lived in the ordinary, then the ordinary is holy ground. Kempis said: a good life refreshes the mind. Chambers says the same thing from the other side: the good life is made of the simplest things — and God ordained them all.
These words arrive in Consuelo's hands — a mother who found the Way through her daughter, who translated Chambers into Portuguese so that the truth could travel in the language of her heart. The common amenities of a mother's life — loving, translating, believing — ordained by God, every one. 🙏
"Many words satisfy not the soul, but a good life refreshes the mind, and a pure conscience gives great confidence towards God."
Thomas à Kempis · The Imitation of Christ · The good life over the many wordsLove to Be Unknown
The highest and most profitable lesson: love to be yourself unknown and to be counted for nothing. Not resignation — freedom. The summit where the soul sees clearly and finds rest.
You Know Not How Long
You do not know how long you shall keep your integrity. All are weak and frail. The one who watches another sin and feels safe has misunderstood grace entirely.
A Good Life Refreshes
Many words satisfy not the soul. But a good life — honest, humble, lived before God — refreshes the mind and gives great confidence. The question is not how much you know but how well you live.
The Common Amenities
Eating, drinking, walking, talking — ordained by God. The Son of God lived in them. The disciple is not above his master. After the stripping, the ordinary remains — and it is holy.