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lectures11-13-第16部分
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view of life。 We glorify the soldier as the man absolutely
unincumbered。 Owning nothing but his bare life; and willing to
toss that up at any moment when the cause commands him; he is the
representative of unhampered freedom in ideal directions。 The
laborer who pays with his person day by day; and has no rights
invested in the future; offers also much of this ideal
detachment。 Like the savage; he may make his bed wherever his
right arm can support him; and from his simple and athletic
attitude of observation; the property…owner seems buried and
smothered in ignoble externalities and trammels; 〃wading in straw
and rubbish to his knees。〃 The claims which THINGS make are
corrupters of manhood; mortgages on the soul; and a drag anchor
on our progress towards the empyrean。
〃Everything I meet with;〃 writes Whitefield; 〃seems to carry this
voice with it'Go thou and preach the Gospel; be a pilgrim on
earth; have no party or certain dwelling place。' My heart echoes
back; 'Lord Jesus; help me to do or suffer thy will。 When thou
seest me in danger of NESTLINGin pityin tender pityput a
THORN in my nest to prevent me from it。'〃'193'
'193' R。 Philip: The Life and Times of George Whitefield;
London; 1842; p。 366。
The loathing of 〃capital〃 with which our laboring classes today
are growing more and more infected seems largely composed of this
sound sentiment of antipathy for lives based on mere having。 As
an anarchist poet writes:
〃Not by accumulating riches; but by giving away that which you
have;
〃Shall you become beautiful;
〃You must undo the wrappings; not case yourself in fresh ones;
〃Not by multiplying clothes shall you make your body sound and
healthy; but rather by discarding them 。 。 。
〃For a soldier who is going on a campaign does not seek what
fresh furniture he can carry on his back; but rather what he can
leave behind;
〃Knowing well that every additional thing which he cannot freely
use and handle is an impediment。〃'194'
'194' Edward Carpenter: Towards Democracy; p。 362; abridged。
In short; lives based on having are less free than lives based
either on doing or on being; and in the interest of action people
subject to spiritual excitement throw away possessions as so many
clogs。 Only those who have no private interests can follow an
ideal straight away。 Sloth and cowardice creep in with every
dollar or guinea we have to guard。 When a brother novice came to
Saint Francis; saying: 〃Father; it would be a great consolation
to me to own a psalter; but even supposing that our general
should concede to me this indulgence; still I should like also to
have your consent;〃 Francis put him off with the examples of
Charlemagne; Roland; and Oliver; pursuing the infidels in sweat
and labor; and finally dying on the field of battle。 〃So care
not;〃 he said; 〃for owning books and knowledge; but care rather
for works of goodness。〃 And when some weeks later the novice
came again to talk of his craving for the psalter; Francis said:
〃After you have got your psalter you will crave a breviary; and
after you have got your breviary you will sit in your stall like
a grand prelate; and will say to your brother: 〃Hand me my
breviary。〃。 。 。 And thenceforward he denied all such requests;
saying: A man possesses of learning only so much as comes out of
him in action; and a monk is a good preacher only so far as his
deeds proclaim him such; for every tree is known by its
fruits。〃'195'
'195' Speculum Perfectionis; ed。 P。 Sabatier; Paris; 1898; pp。
10; 13。
But beyond this more worthily athletic attitude involved in doing
and being; there is; in the desire of not having; something
profounder still; something related to that fundamental mystery
of religious experience; the satisfaction found in absolute
surrender to the larger power。 So long as any secular safeguard
is retained; so long as any residual prudential guarantee is
clung to; so long the surrender is incomplete; the vital crisis
is not passed; fear still stands sentinel; and mistrust of the
divine obtains: we hold by two anchors; looking to God; it is
true; after a fashion; but also holding by our proper
machinations。 In certain medical experiences we have the same
critical point to overcome。 A drunkard; or a morphine or cocaine
maniac; offers himself to be cured。 He appeals to the doctor to
wean him from his enemy; but he dares not face blank abstinence。
The tyrannical drug is still an anchor to windward: he hides
supplies of it among his clothing; arranges secretly to have it
smuggled in in case of need。 Even so an incompletely regenerate
man still trusts in his own expedients。 His money is like the
sleeping potion which the chronically wakeful patient keeps
beside his bed; he throws himself on God; but IF he should need
the other help; there it will be also。 Every one knows cases of
this incomplete and ineffective desire for reform…drunkards whom;
with all their self…reproaches and resolves; one perceives to be
quite unwilling seriously to contemplate NEVER being drunk again!
Really to give up anything on which we have relied; to give it up
definitely; 〃for good and all〃 and forever; signifies one of
those radical alterations of character which came under our
notice in the lectures on conversion。 In it the inner man rolls
over into an entirely different position of equilibrium; lives in
a new centre of energy from this time on; and the turning…point
and hinge of all such operations seems usually to involve the
sincere acceptance of certain nakednesses and destitutions。
Accordingly; throughout the annals of the saintly life; we find
this ever…recurring note: Fling yourself upon God's providence
without making any reserve whatevertake no thought for the
morrowsell all you have and give it to the pooronly when the
sacrifice is ruthless and reckless will the higher safety really
arrive。 As a concrete example let me read a page from the
biography of Antoinette Bourignon; a good woman; much persecuted
in her day by both Protestants and Catholics; because she would
not take her religion at second hand。 When a young girl; in her
father's house
〃She spent whole nights in prayer; oft repeating: Lord; what
wilt thou have me to do? And being one night in a most profound
penitence; she said from the bottom of her heart: 'O my Lord!
What must I do to please thee? For I have nobody to teach me。
Speak to my soul and it will hear thee。' At that instant she
heard; as if another had spoke within her: Forsake all earthly
things。 Separate thyself from the love of the creatures。 Deny
thyself。 She was quite astonished; not understanding this
language; and mused long on these three points; thinking how she
could fulfill them。 She thought she could not live without
earthly things; nor without loving the creatures; nor without
loving herself。 Yet she said; 'By thy Grace I will do it; Lord!'
But when she would perform her promise; she knew not where to
begin。 Having thought on the religious in monasteries; that they
forsook all earthly things by being shut up in a cloister; and
the love of themselves by subjecting of their wills; she asked
leave of her father to enter into a cloister of the barefoot
Carmelites; but he would not permit it; saying he would rather
see her laid in her grave。 This seemed to her a great cruelty;
for she thought to find in the cloister the true Christians she
had been seeking; but she found afterwards that he knew the
cloisters better than she; for after he had forbidden her; and
told her he would never permit her to be a religious; nor give
her any money to enter there; yet she went to Father Laurens; the
Director; and offered to serve in the monastery and work hard for
her bread; and be content with little; if he would receive her。
At which he smiled and said: That cannot be。 We must have money
to build; we take no maids without money; you must find the way
to get it; else there is no entry here。
〃This astonished her greatly; and she was thereby undeceived as
to the cloisters; resolving to forsake all company and live alone
till it should please God to show her what she ought to do and
whither to go。 She asked always earnestly; 'When shall I be
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