"Often I wondered why by the great foreseeing wisdom of God the
beginning of sin was not hindered: for then, methought, all should have
been well." "Sin is behovable--[playeth a needful part]--; but all
shall be well"
After this the Lord brought to my mind the longing that I had to Him
afore. And I saw that nothing letted me but sin. And so I looked,
generally, upon us all, and methought: _If sin had not been, we should
all have been clean and like to our Lord, as He made us._
And thus, in my folly, afore this time often I wondered why by the
great foreseeing wisdom of God the beginning of sin was not letted: for
then, methought, all should have been well. This stirring [of mind]
was much to be forsaken, but nevertheless mourning and sorrow I made
therefor, without reason and discretion.
But Jesus, who in this Vision informed me of all that is needful to
me, answered by this word and said: _It behoved that there should be
sin;[1] but all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of
thing shall be well._
In this naked word _sin_, our Lord brought to my mind, generally, _all
that is not good_, and the shameful despite and the utter noughting[2]
that He bare for us in this life, and His dying; and all the pains
and passions of all His creatures, ghostly and bodily; (for we be all
partly noughted, and we shall be noughted following our Master, Jesus,
till we be full purged, that is to say, till we be fully noughted of
our deadly flesh and of all our inward affections which are not very
good;) and the beholding of this, with all pains that ever were or ever
shall be,--and with all these I understand the Passion of Christ for
most pain, and overpassing. All this was shewed in a touch and quickly
passed over into comfort: for our good Lord would not that the soul
were affeared of this terrible sight.
But I saw not _sin_: for I believe it hath no manner of substance nor
no part of being, nor could it be known but by the pain it is cause of.
And thus[3] pain, _it_ is something, as to my sight, for a time; for
it purgeth, and maketh us to know ourselves and to ask mercy. For the
Passion of our Lord is comfort to us against all this, and so is His
blessed will. And for the tender love that our good Lord hath to all
that shall be saved, He comforteth readily and sweetly, signifying
thus: _It is sooth[4] that sin is cause of all this pain; but all shall
be well, and all shall be well, and all manner [of] thing shall be
well._
These words were said full tenderly, showing no manner of blame to me
nor to any that shall be saved. Then were it a great unkindness[5] to
blame or wonder on God for my sin, since He blameth not me for sin.
And in these words I saw a marvellous high mystery hid in God, which
mystery He shall openly make known to us in Heaven: in which knowing we
shall verily see the cause why He suffered sin to come. In which sight
we shall endlessly joy in our Lord God.[6]
[1] "Synne is behovabil, but al shal be wel & al shal be wel & al
manner of thyng shal be wele."
[2] Being made as nothing, set at nought.
[3] S. de Cressy has "this" instead of _thus_.
[4] _i.e._ truth, an actual reality. See lxxxii.
[5] As it were, an unreasonable contravention of natural, filial trust.
[6] See also chap. lxi. From the _Enchiridion_ of Saint
Augustine:--"All things that exist, therefore, seeing that the Creator
of them all is supremely good, are themselves good. But because they
are not like their Creator, supremely and unchangeably good, their good
may be diminished and increased. But for good to be diminished is an
evil, although, however much it may be diminished, it is necessary, if
the being is to continue, that some good should remain to constitute
the being. For however small or of whatever kind the being may be, the
good which makes it a being cannot be destroyed without destroying the
being itself.... So long as a being is in process of corruption, there
is in it some good of which it is being deprived; and if a part of the
being should remain which cannot be corrupted, this will certainly
be an incorruptible being, and accordingly the process of corruption
will result in the manifestation of this great good. But if it do
not cease to be corrupted, neither can it cease to possess good of
which corruption may deprive it. But if it should be thoroughly and
completely consumed by corruption, there will then be no good left,
because there will be no being. Wherefore corruption can consume the
good only by consuming the being. Every being, therefore, is a good; a
great good, if it cannot be corrupted; a little good, if it can: but in
any case, only the foolish or ignorant will deny that it is a good. And
if it be wholly consumed by corruption, then the corruption itself must
cease to exist, as there is no being left in which it can dwell."
Chap. x. "By the Trinity, thus supremely and equally and unchangeably
good, all things were created; and these are not supremely and equally
and unchangeably good, but yet they are good, even taken separately.
Taken as a whole, however, they are very good, because their _ensemble_
constitutes the universe in all its wonderful order and beauty."--_The
Works of Aurelius Augustine, Bishop of Hippo_, (Edited by the Rev.
Marcus Dods, D.D.), vol. ix.