Dialogue of Comfort Against Tribulation: With Modifications To Obsolete Language By Monica StevensMore, Thomas, Saint
Religion
Dialogue of Comfort Against Tribulation: With Modifications To Obsolete Language By Monica Stevens
More, Thomas, Saint
Consolation
Let us look well how many things, and of what vile wretched sort,
the devil driveth us to do daily, through the rash turns of our
blind affections, which we are fain to follow, for our faultful
lack of grace, and are too feeble to refrain. And then shall we
find in our natural freedom our bondservice such that never was
there any man lord of any so vile a bondsman that he ever would
command him to so shameful service. And let us, in the doing of our
service to the man that we be slave unto, remember what we were
wont to do about the same time of day while we were at our free
liberty before, and would be well likely, if we were at liberty, to
do again. And we shall peradventure perceive that it were better
for us to do this business than that. Now we shall have great
occasion of comfort, if we consider that our servitude, though in
the account of the world it seem to come by chance of war, cometh
unto us yet in very deed by the provident hand of God, and that for
our great good if we will take it well, both in remission of sins
and also as matter of our merit.
The greatest grief that is in bondage or captivity, I believe, is
this: that we are forced to do such labour as with our good will we
would not. But then against that grief, Seneca teacheth us a good
remedy: "Endeavour thyself evermore that thou do nothing against
thy will, but the things that we see we shall needs do, let us
always put our good will thereto."
VINCENT: That is soon said, uncle, but it is hard to do.
ANTHONY: Our froward mind maketh every good thing hard, and that
to our own more hurt and harm. But in this case, if we will be good
Christian men, we shall have great cause gladly to be content, for
the great comfort that we may take thereby. For we remember that in
the patient and glad doing of our service unto that man for God's
sake, according to his high commandment by the mouth of St. Paul,
_"Servi obedite dominis carnalibus,"_ we shall have our thanks and
our whole reward of God.
Finally, if we remember the great humble meekness of our Saviour
Christ himself--that he, being very almighty God, "humbled himself
and took the form of a bondsman or slave," rather than that his
Father should forsake us--we may think ourselves very ungrateful
caitiffs (and very frantic fools, too) if, rather than to endure
this worldly bondage for awhile, we would forsake him who hath by
his own death delivered us out of everlasting bondage to the devil,
and who will for our short bondage give us everlasting liberty.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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