TRAINING THE INNER LIFE
I. _Environment and Character_
A psychological principle we should never lose sight of is that the
attitude of mind and heart towards all moral questions is just what we
choose to make it. Surround a man with debasing associations, and let
him yield to the resulting influences, and he becomes debased. On the
other hand, the influence of a pure and noble environment makes for
purity and nobility of character. Every man in his inner character,
and in that outward expression of character that we call life, is the
product of the influences to which he yields himself.
One of our chief dangers, however, is that many influences flow out
from our daily environment of which we are quite unconscious. We are
not always in a position to realize our surroundings and their effect,
and even when we can realize them, it is often beyond our power to
control them. But before an external influence can work any hurt to
us, there must be something {91} within that answers to it. A child
may pass unscathed through an environment of vice, because there is
nothing in the child-heart that responds to the call of sin.
Our Lord had this in mind, perhaps, when He laid it down as a condition
necessary to entrance into the Kingdom of God that we should become as
little children,[1] and He was able to make this condition quite
absolute, because while no man can control his external environment and
the consequent influences, he can, by the deliberate use of his will,
acting in the power of the Holy Ghost, create, in very large measure,
whatever interior condition he wishes. By his daily course he can
develop a moral and spiritual interior that will habitually respond
with alacrity to the evil and be deaf to the good; or, on the other
hand, one that will not only rise up quickly to entertain every good
influence and suggestion, but will in a large measure (though never
wholly in this life) be even unconscious like little children of the
presence of evil influences.[2]
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So let us learn how to create an interior environment in which the Holy
Ghost will be the dominant force. Otherwise Satan will surely surround
us with so much of sin, that becoming accustomed to it, and to the
thought of it, we shall be unable to resist the effort he will make to
use our faculties as instruments for his work.
Nor must we wait until conscious of his approach before seeking to
create the proper interior environment. In most cases it will then be
too late. It is not easy to surround ourselves with an atmosphere of
good and pious thought in the moment of assault. We must be beforehand
with him. In times of peace we must prepare for war.
We may be quite sure that it is with the intention of affording us the
opportunity to do this that God often gives us rest from the attacks of
the enemy. He does not mean us to lie idle at such times, but to seize
the opportunity to train for future battles, just as soldiers in
barracks engage in daily drill that they may be more efficient fighters
when again called to take the field. "After thou hast escaped these
{93} temptations, or else if our Lord hath so kept thee (as He doth
many by His mercy), that thou hast not been troubled much by any such,
then it is good for thee that thou beware of turning thy rest into
idleness."[3]
Let us consider how Satan uses certain of our faculties as instruments
of sin, and see how by a definite system of spiritual exercises we can
so forestall him that he will find nothing in us ready for his use.
II. _Educating the Memory_
How much sin, for example, is due to the action of memory! It is
indeed strange that this wonderful faculty, which more than any other
operates to give unity, consistency, and proportion to our life, should
be so often used to call up past sins that we may sin them over again
in will if not in deed. We linger with pleasure, by the exercise of
this faculty, over past sins, making them our own again, staining our
souls once more with that which we thought had been buried forever in
the far-off years.
We bring to renewed life old revenges, ancient hates, and revel again
amid scenes of impurity which can never be re-enacted in real life.
Such {94} acts, frequently indulged, grow into a habit, and the habit
becomes necessity when the memory not only easily and naturally reverts
to those events and conditions of the past that were bound up with sin,
but becomes so trained that it must recall the evil, and can only with
great stress, difficulty, and distaste be made to recall that which is
good.
If, on the other hand, by persistent acts of will we force the memory
to recall the righteous passages from our past, far-off happenings
sweet and holy, we, little by little, train it to retain these
righteous things, while all other impressions grow more and more dim as
the years go by.
Those who have practised such methods find that after a time the
memory, even when left alone, will engage itself with that which is
good, just because it has become accustomed to it, and will reject the
evil (in many cases, of itself, without the direct interposition of the
will), because long exercise has so trained it that in its ordinary
operation evil memories are repugnant to it.
Therefore keep the memory definitely busy. Too often when we think it
is browsing, as it were, carelessly among the fields of the past, it
is, as a matter of fact, being subtly directed by Satan, until, ere we
know it, it has fallen upon some evil thing whose touch is poison.
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III. _Guiding the Imagination_
So likewise with the imagination. Perhaps no human faculty is
responsible for so much sin, and there is a peculiar heinousness in
sins of the imagination. In His mercy God has limited our sphere of
sin. There are certain evils impossible for us because He has withheld
us from the condition necessary for their commission.
Instead, therefore, of being grateful for such a blessed limitation, we
use the imagination to conjure up impossible situations. We create new
worlds for ourselves, new theatres for our exploits of pride and
wickedness, and in them, through will and imagination, we enact the sin
that it would be impossible to commit in our actual external lives.
This strong activity of the imagination can and must be directed. If
this mysterious faculty be so prone to produce its own creations, if we
indeed will dream of things that do not belong to the present moment,
let them be holy things.
Yes, let the imagination run as fast as it will, check it in nothing
save in the subjects of its activity. Let it transport us to heavenly
places. Let it picture to our astonished vision the things that will
be hereafter, the company of heaven, {96} the companionship of the
Saints, the glory of the Lamb.
Or, if these ranges be too lofty, let the fancy create new earthly
theatres for our activity. Let us picture ourselves following Jesus as
He "went about doing good";[4] let us see Him healing the lepers,
opening the eyes of the blind, raising the dead, blessing the little
children; let us bring vividly before us the great example of His life;
and let the picture so burn itself, through the power of the
imagination, into the very fabric of the brain, that we cannot choose
but make it the model for our own lives.
So, after a time, the imagination will become so trained that it will
ever be creating holy things, and presenting them for our
consideration, and will become incapable, in the end, of producing any
picture that could not find ready reflection in the stainless mirror of
the human mind of our Blessed Lord.
When we consider the method of thus training the inner man, we find
that our course must be shaped by means of certain practices, which
should be strenuously pursued if real progress is to be made. These
practices will be, as a Kempis says particularly of one of them, as a
rudder guiding the ship, keeping it on its proper course. {97} Those
we shall consider especially are: (1) Constancy of mind and will; (2)
Patience; (3) Calmness; (4) Diligence.
IV. _The Practice of Constancy_
Thomas a Kempis says, "The beginning of all evil temptations is
inconstancy of mind, and small confidence in God, for as a ship without
a rudder is tossed to and fro by the waves, so the man who is slack and
quits his purpose is many ways tempted."[5]
God, knowing human weakness and incapacity, requires but little of man,
but He does emphatically require that this little be resolutely
purposed, and definitely executed. The soldier who threshes wildly
about the field, however fiercely and courageously, is not the one to
contribute to the victory. He who sets a definite purpose before him;
who knows just what he wants to do, and allows nothing to shake his
purpose, is the one on whom the commander can depend to accomplish
something in the battle.
So in our spiritual warfare the most important factor is definiteness
of purpose, and constancy in executing it. The Christian warfare must
be conducted by rule. When I arise each morning {98} to the work of
another day, I must know, as far as possible, what that work is; I must
know the particular method by which it is to be performed; I must have
submitted it all to God so that, feeling assured of "a right judgment
in all things," I shall be able to go forward to my duty without doubt
or hesitation. The army that knows not when to fight, whose officers
are in confusion and uncertainty regarding the next move, falls an easy
prey to the enemy. But let the same army be provided with a definite
plan of campaign; let every officer and man, each in his place, know
just what he is to do under every condition that may arise; and the
enemy will have no easy task to defeat it.
This all points to the necessity of the Christian having a Rule of
Life, and holding fast to it; allowing himself to be drawn off to
nothing else until that be fulfilled. Satan has a subtle way at times
of seeking to disturb our spirit of constancy by suggesting something
that, in itself, is better and higher than that we have resolved upon.
But let us not be deceived by this clever move on his part. If we have
undertaken a definite thing for God, that is the highest and best for
us until it be accomplished; and the thought that any thing can be more
pleasing to Him is but a wile of the devil; and to entertain the {99}
suggestion is to be guilty of pride. Better a small and humble service
well performed, than great things poorly done. "Our advancement and
perfection consist not in the performance of very extraordinary things,
or in the being employed in the highest and most labourious offices of
religion, but only in doing our ordinary actions well, and in
acquitting ourselves well of whatsoever obedience employs us in, be it
ever so mean or easy."[6] So Christian perfection, against which all
temptation is directed, consists in doing ordinary things
extraordinarily well.
The conclusion of the matter is that we cannot be safe unless our whole
life is lived by definite, practical rule; a rule for rising in the
morning, for prayers, for our Bible reading, our Communions, our
Confessions, for the commonest details of our daily routine, leaving
nothing to be decided by chance or whim. A life thus ordered and
carried out with constancy of purpose and will, for the glory of God,
is a standing {100} menace to Satan's power. He fears it, because he
knows that it possesses a power against which his long experience and
consummate skill are as nothing.
V. _The Practice of Calmness_
A life lived as has been described above is one that will be dominated
by a spirit of calmness, a calmness born of strength. The strong man
is always the calm man. An agitated spirit is the evidence of a
conscious weakness. The soldier who has faith in his commander, who
knows he can rely on the weapons furnished him, and who is certain that
his strength is greater than that of his enemy, is not excited in the
face of attack. He receives it with serenity because he feels assured
of what the result will be. It is uncertainty that brings agitation;
it is the uncertainties of life that produce the worry that kills--and
worry means want of faith. But the Christian soldier is beset by no
uncertainties. If, in unswerving trust, he keeps his will firm for
God, knit up with the perfect human will of our Lord, he knows there
are no contingencies in the warfare he is waging. There can be but one
issue,--that of complete and glorious victory.
If this assurance concerning the issue produces calmness, the spirit of
calm will in its turn react {101} upon us for the greater certainty of
the victory.[7] The heart that is calm is the one that is capable of
seeing all things in their true nature and relation. Such a heart is
not easily deceived by the tempter, nor can it be frightened by the
clamour of his onslaught. With steady hand it parries his deadliest
thrusts, and assuming the offensive is able in its turn to inflict
mortal wounds upon the power of Satan wherever it may be manifested.
VI. _The Practice of Patience_
Patience is also a necessary virtue that has constantly and assiduously
to be cultivated if we would be ready always for the battle.
(1) We are to be patient with God, biding His time, tarrying His
leisure,[8] awaiting whatever He may send in the conflict, assuring
one's heart always that He rules and overrules, and that all things
work together for good to those who love Him.[9]
(2) We know the necessity of patience with our fellow-men. Our daily
experience show us how large a proportion of temptation arises from
failure to bear with those among whom we live, {102} not infrequently
those who hold the first place in our hearts. A wholesome remedy for
impatience with those about us is to remember ourselves. "Endeavour to
be patient in bearing with the defects and infirmities of others of
what sort soever they be: for thou also hast many which must be borne
with by others. If thou canst not make thyself what thou wouldest, how
canst thou expect to have another to thy liking? We are glad to see
others perfect; and yet we mend not our own faults. We will have
others severely corrected: and will not be corrected ourselves. The
large liberty of others displeases us: and yet we will not have our own
desires denied us. We will have others restrained by laws: but will
not in any way be checked ourselves. And thus it appears: how seldom
we weigh our neighbour in the same balance with ourselves."[10]
(3) All these things we have just been considering are doubtless
familiar to us, but perhaps the thought of patience with ourselves is
not so common a one, although there is no more important a factor in
all the Christian warfare.
Patience must be exercised towards oneself as towards a weak and
wayward child. We are not to expect too much of ourselves. To turn
upon oneself angrily or bitterly because we cannot {103} immediately
drive away some persistent temptation, or because we have yielded,[11]
is an act of spiritual pride. It shows that we thought ourselves quite
able to cope with the tempter; prided ourselves indeed upon our
spiritual powers; and are now in a state of surprise and indignation
that we should have failed; when all the while, had we known ourselves,
we should have seen that the real wonder is that we are ever able at
all to resist him successfully.
Nor must we be surprised if there seem to rise up out of our own hearts
foul and humiliating temptations. We are not to forget that we are
made from the dust of the earth that can, of itself, bring forth naught
but thorns and thistles. The material of temptation is everywhere,
within and without, the soul "having the worst temptation within itself
in its own temptibility."[12]
Nor will he who understands himself and his own weakness grow impatient
with the long {104} continuance of the battle. He will recognize that
if he had his just deserts he would long since have been cast out from
God rather than permitted to wear the King's uniform, and fight battles
for the honour of His Name. He who knows himself will go softly all
the days of his life, knowing that only by so great a salvation as that
wrought on Calvary has he been preserved from the power of the enemy.
So "by little and little, and by patience with long suffering through
God's help thou shalt better overcome, than by hardness and thine own
pertinacity."[13]
VII. _The Practice of Diligence_
There remains to be considered the spirit of diligence that must
characterize the soldier of Christ. Keep yourself always busy with the
things of God. Keep the whole mental faculty engaged; keep it under
the command of the Holy Ghost, for just as in all else that belongs to
man, if God does not direct it, Satan will. There is a deep spiritual
truth in the old proverb, "An idle brain is the devil's workshop."
Not only will this course superinduce such habits of thought and
character as will strengthen us mightily, but, the human mind being
what it {105} is, will render it often impossible for Satan to find
lodgment in it for his temptation.
The mind can only be engaged with a limited number of things at any one
time. This varies with various persons, according to their mental
training and development, but even the most highly developed mind can
compass but few things at the same moment. Our common mental processes
consist of one thought, or group of thoughts, thrusting out others, and
taking their place until in their turn they are displaced. Since this
is the case, one's safety from evil thoughts lies in diligently keeping
the mind filled with good and holy thoughts. Keep the will at work
calling up a continuous procession of suggestions and pictures of
things righteous and God-like, and when Satan approaches to insinuate
into the heart his temptations, he will find it so full that there will
be no room in it for him or his works.
This must be done in an organized and methodical way. Let us not trust
to chance opportunity. At every moment the will is, consciously or
subconsciously, making a choice either for good or evil. Our part is
to seize upon these moments and force that inevitable choosing to be
not only righteous, but definitely and explicitly a choice of
righteousness.
Practise over and over again the work of {106} choosing God. Arraign
before the mind things good and evil, the higher and the lower, that
the will may be drilled in the repeated preference of what belongs to
Him.
This will be a much simpler method than may seem at first. How many
moments are there in each day when we are, of necessity, unoccupied.
We have to wait five minutes for an appointment; we spend a quarter of
an hour on a crowded car; we have a little distance to walk to reach
some destination; or occasionally there is a wakeful hour at night.
What are we doing all this time? We can be sure the will is operating.
It stands sentinel to admit or repulse every thought that comes; and
what is the nature of the thoughts admitted? Idle thoughts, critical
thoughts of those about us, silly vain thoughts of self,--how covered
with confusion and shame we should be if some by-stander were able to
look within and see the busy, thronging procession that streams through
our mind unchallenged, nay more, welcomed and indulged. Yet this is
the very opportunity God gives us to busy ourselves for Him: and
instead of using it, we let it run to sinful waste, marring our whole
character, for as a man thinks, so he is.
How much better would it have been had we said, when we realized the
unoccupied minute: {107} "I will use this little time to make an act of
love, of hope, of faith. I will speak to Him familiarly in some
ejaculation of prayer. I will, for His praise, repeat some psalm I may
know by heart. I will pray for some of these people, strangers though
they be to me."[14] Then immediately perform this resolution in a most
definite way, framing with care even the very words with the lips, that
the body as well as the mind may have its part in the work.
Try this for a month, earnestly and persistently, and at the end of
that time see if the whole inner being does not spontaneously turn to
such holy exercises. So far as the human aspect of it is concerned, it
is a mere matter of psychology. The mind acts thus, because it has
been trained to it. The repeated act has formed the habit, and the
habit in its turn repeats the act; but through and in it all is divine
grace, the very life of God, operating in the infinite activity of His
love.
Especially must we exercise this diligence when we perceive the
tempter's approach. When we become conscious of the slightest
suggestion that seems to point to sin, let the will rally all our {108}
faculties to expel it, and to fill the mind so full that it can have no
chance of returning. But here as everywhere else must we be on our
guard against Satan's subtilty and power. Often in response to such an
attitude on our part, he presents some attractive thought, pure and
good, perhaps; then another and another, leading the soul that is not
watchful by a long train of associated ideas up to the goal he has
prepared, to some one thought that is either itself sin if consented
to, or the ready vehicle of sin.
Accustom the mind with unwearied diligence to such thoughts as we can
readily, conceive finding place in the mind of Christ, rejecting all
others. "Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest,
whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever
things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be
any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."[15]
Let the mind be thus employed, and Satan may indeed be able to lead us
along some line of thought up to the place of temptation, but it will
be only to find, as with our Lord, when he bore Him up to the pinnacle
of the temple, that this place of his own choosing will prove the scene
of his own utter defeat.
[1] St. Matt. xviii, 3.
[2] "A temptation can never be divorced from a course of life. It is
woven into the very texture of life's continuity. It is a temptation
because of what we are _at the time_. It is the conditions of the
crisis which make a moment, a decision, critical.... It is thus the
whole setting of a life which brings temptation. So temptation is
never clean detached from the past, or the future, of the tempted; for
there is no such thing as a human experience which has not its roots in
the past, and its fruit in the sequel."--H. J. C. Knight, _The
Temptation of our Lord_, p. 55.
[3] Walter Hilton, _The Scale of Perfection_, Bk. I, Pt. II, chap. i.
[4] Acts x, 38.
[5] _Imitation_, I, xiii.
[6] Rodriguez, _The Practice of Religious and Christian Perfection_,
Vol. I, p. 86. Pere Grou teaches "that nothing is small or great in
God's sight; whatever He wills becomes great to us, however seemingly
trifling, and if once the voice of conscience tells us that He requires
anything of us, we have no right to measure its importance.... There
is no standard of things great and small to a Christian, save God's
will."--_The Hidden Life of the Soul_, p. 206. ("Half-a-Crown" Ed.)
[7] "Be still, then, and know that I am God."--Ps. xlvi, 10. "In
quietness and in confidence shall be your strength."--Isa. xxx, 15.
[8] Ps. xxvii, 16.
[9] Rom. viii, 28.
[10] _Imitation_, I, xvi.
[11] "You are vexed at the vexation, and then you are vexed at having
been vexed. I have seen people in the same way get into a passion, and
then be angry because they had lost their temper!"--St. Francis de
Sales, _Spiritual Letters_, xxvii.
[12] S. T. Coleridge, _Aids to Reflection_, p. 186. (Bohn Ed.)
Bishop Andrewes in his second sermon on the Temptation of Christ,
speaking of it being impossible for Him to have sinned since there was
no fire of concupiscence in Him, quaintly says: "To us the devil needs
bring but a pair of bellows, for he shall find fire within
us."--Andrewes, _Sermons_, Vol. V, p. 508.
[13] _Imitation_, I, xiii.
[14] A busy Wall Street financier not long since told the writer that
for several years, whenever stepping from an omnibus or car, in the
thronged street or crowded railway station, he had made a practice of
offering an ejaculation of prayer for his fellow-passengers.
[15] Phil. iv, 8.
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