"My Son, you must give all for all, and be nothing of your own. Know you that the love of yourself is more hurtful to you than anything in the world.
According to the love and inclination which you have, everything more or less cleaves to you. If your love be pure, sincere, well-regulated, you shall not be in captivity to anything.
Do not covet what you may not have; do not have what is able to hinder you, and to rob you of inward liberty. It is wonderful that you committest not yourself to Me from the very bottom of your heart, with all things which you can desire or have.
The love of yourself is more hurtful to you than anything in the world. The more you think about protecting self, the more you are in a state of captivity.
Le turned Kempis's teaching inside out in the most practical way: the more you think about protecting self, the more you are in a state of captivity. The self-protection that feels like safety is actually the prison. The walls built to keep the world out are the same walls that keep the soul in.
Kempis said weeks ago: by loving myself amiss, I lost myself. Today he goes deeper: the love of self is more hurtful than anything in the world. Not the hatred of enemies. Not the trials. Not the adversity. The love of self. The most hurtful thing in the world is the thing the world tells you to cultivate.
And the test: if your love be pure, sincere, well-regulated, you shall not be in captivity to anything. The well-regulated love does not cling. It does not covet what it may not have. It does not hold what hinders. The well-regulated love is the free love. And on the road back to Portugal to pack an apartment, the question underneath every box is real: does this rob me of inward liberty?
Why art you consumed with vain sorrow? Why art you wearied with superfluous cares? Stand you by My good pleasure, and you shall suffer no loss.
If you seekest after this or that, and will be here or there, according to your own advantage or the fulfilling of your own pleasure, you shall never be in quiet, nor free from care, because in everything somewhat will be found lacking, and everywhere there will be somebody who opposeth you.
Stand by My good pleasure, and you shall suffer no loss. Roger and I tell each other: we won't look back. That's what we did when we left the US.
When we left the US it was almost suddenly. Later we knew why — months after we left, the world was hit by a pandemic. We were in Portugal, safe and healthy, and God took care of us.
We won't look back. The posture of the pilgrim. Le and Roger did it leaving Dallas. They are doing it leaving Portugal. The same faith. The same forward motion. Lot's wife looked back and became a pillar of salt. Abraham looked forward and became the father of nations. The direction of the gaze determines the destiny.
And the pattern: they left the US almost suddenly — and months later the pandemic hit. They sold the apartment before it was listed — and now they are heading to Brittany. God moves them before they can see the reason. The reason becomes visible later. But the obedience is required now, in the dark, before the explanation arrives. The same God who moved them before the pandemic is moving them now. The same hand. The same timing. The same trust.
Kempis asks: why consumed with vain sorrow? Why wearied with superfluous cares? The cares are superfluous — unnecessary, extra, manufactured by the self. Stand by My good pleasure, and you shall suffer no loss. Not because nothing changes. Because nothing that matters is lost. The apartment is lost. The address is lost. But the soul that stands by His good pleasure loses nothing — because what she has is Him. And He is not packed in boxes.
Therefore it is not gaining or multiplying of this thing or that which advantageth you, but rather the despising it and cutting it by the root out of your heart.
The place avails little if the spirit of devotion is wanting; nor shall that peace stand long which is sought from abroad, if the state of your heart is without the true foundation, that is, if it abide not in Me.
You may change, but you cannot better yourself; for when occasion ariseth and is accepted you shall find what you did fly from, yea more.
The spirit of devotion is what makes any place holy. Nothing to do with you, but the Holy Spirit. We can go anywhere in the world. Because the freedom is inside. That is why Jesus said: do not worry about your life — look at the birds of the air, your Father feeds them.
Le's correction is the truest word this morning: nothing to do with you, but the Holy Spirit. The spirit of devotion is not a discipline the soul generates. It is the Holy Spirit living inside the soul. The holiness of the place comes from His presence in the person — not from the person's effort, not from the location, not from the country. He makes the place holy by being in the one who stands there.
Kempis warns: the place avails little if the spirit of devotion is wanting. Portugal did not make the soul holy. France will not. Brittany will not. The spirit of devotion — the Holy Spirit Himself — is what makes any place holy. Change the container all you want. If the content does not travel, the new container is as empty as the old.
And the hard word: you may change, but you cannot better yourself. You shall find what you did fly from, yea more. The root of temptation is within. The thing you flee follows — because it was never in the place. It was in the heart. But the soul that has cut the root, the soul whose freedom is inside, the soul in whom the Holy Spirit dwells — she can go anywhere. Because the freedom is not in the geography. It is in the presence.
Look at the birds of the air. Matthew 6:26. They do not look back. They do not worry about the next field. The Father feeds them. And the pilgrims heading south through France, packing up one life to begin another — are of more value than many sparrows.
"We can go anywhere in the world. Because the freedom is inside."
Le's Heart · Brioux-sur-Boutonne · Twenty-nine days with Kempis · Heading southThe Prison of Self-Protection
The love of self is more hurtful than anything in the world. The more you protect self, the more captive you become. The well-regulated love is the free love — cleaving to no creature.
We Won't Look Back
Stand by His good pleasure and suffer no loss. God moves before the reason is visible. Left the US suddenly — the pandemic hit months later. The same hand. The same timing. The same trust.
The Place Avails Little
The spirit of devotion makes the place holy — nothing to do with you, but the Holy Spirit. You may change, but you cannot better yourself. What you flee follows. The freedom is inside.
Look at the Birds
They neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns. The Father feeds them. The pilgrims heading south are of more value than many sparrows. The Father who feeds the birds feeds the pilgrims.