Of instability of the heart, and of directing the aim towards God
“My Son, trust not thy feeling, for that which is now will be quickly
changed into somewhat else. As long as thou livest thou art subject to
change, howsoever unwilling; so that thou art found now joyful, now
sad; now at peace, now disquieted; now devout, now indevout; now
studious, now careless; now sad, now cheerful. But the wise man, and he
who is truly learned in spirit, standeth above these changeable things,
attentive not to what he may feel in himself, or from what quarter the
wind may blow, but that the whole intent of his mind may carry him on
to the due and much-desired end. For thus will he be able to remain one
and the same and unshaken, the single eye of his desire being
steadfastly fixed, through the manifold changes of the world, upon Me.
2. “But according as the eye of intention be the more pure, even so
will a man make his way steadfastly through the manifold storms. But in
many the eye of pure intention waxeth dim; for it quickly resteth
itself upon anything pleasant which occurreth, and rarely is any man
found altogether free from the blemish of self-seeking. So the Jews of
old came to Bethany, to the house of Martha and Mary, that they might
see not Jesus, but Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead.(1)
Therefore must the eye of the intention be cleansed, that it may be
single and right, and above all things which come in its way, may be
directed unto Me.”
(1) John xii. 9.