Here’s this week’s post on Bk 1, ch 1, para 3.
As we dig into our meditation this week, there’s a bit of a contradiction going on. Good Thomas told us last week that we need God’s Spirit, and to seek the mind of Christ. If we have started that walk, Thomas clarifies what it means to conform to Christ’s mind….or rather, what it does not mean:
3. What does it profit you to talk profoundly about the Trinity if you are without humility, and consequently, displeasing to the Trinity?
In Truth, sublime words do not make a man holy and just: rather, a virtuous life makes that man dear to God.
I would rather feel guilt than know the definition of guilt.
If you know the whole Bible by heart, and the sayings of great philosophers, what good would that do without the love of God and His Grace?
“Vanity of Vanities, all things are vanity,” (
Eccl 1:2), except to love God and serve Him alone.
This is the highest wisdom, by setting aside worldly activities to tend to the heavenly kingdom.
It’s easy to make-believe and imagine. It’s fun. The kind of pretending Thomas writes about here is quite a bit more devious. While it’s good to know Scripture or great and pithy sayings, God looks at our heart and our actions. Pretending draws displeasure. God wants the real thing from us.
God falls in love with us by watching us as we try to fulfill his will. Think about how great it is to watch a child do a chore for mom or dad and you’ve got the picture. Just last week (when it was nice out), we were turning over the garden in the yard, and my 6 yr old son, John Paul, decided to dig his own garden, far away from mine, in the middle of the front yard! His garden is exactly one shovel deep and one shovel wide and one shovel long. He was very proud of it. Or, my 10 yr old daughter, Maria, who wanted her own garden space, tried very hard to turn over the dirt, but she just couldn’t sink the shovel. She learned that her efforts will not be fruitful, so she asked for help, and I’ll gladly dig it for her (when it’s warm again!). I couldn’t love them more for trying to help me, or trying to emulate what I was doing in the larger yard.
God is like that with us. When we are humble, like Him, or virtuous, like Him, we are “dear to Him”. When we focus on what He wants us to tend to in His Garden, we are rewarded by our efforts as well as the results. Even if we don’t do it quite right, He still appreciates us trying to be like Him in serving His people. Part of the reward is the activity itself.
Good Thomas contrasts all this goodness, not with evil, but rather with that snide, puffed up intellectualism. By memorizing Scripture and waxing eloquently about the Trinity, this character sees that it’s all about him and his smarts. It is simply vanity. Now, this is no condemnation of studying Scripture, or of seeking one’s own mental improvement. However, Studying Scripture does not make you Holy, but living out the words of Scripture does make you holy, like St. Francis said: “Preach the Gospel at all times, and if necessary, use words.”
Next time, we’ll look more at how to be profitable, vain, and insensitive (on less than $10 per day!).
Thank you for reading and praying along with me. 'Til next time, be Imitators of Christ!
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