In our technological, individualist western lives, we have a knee-jerk reaction against contrition. There’s a heavy expectation on us, especially in the more toxic regions of church culture, to always be happy, self-assured, and “blessed”. The result is we live in a fantasy world where negative feelings get suppressed, or worse, get dressed up as faux happiness. The phrase, “if you don’t laugh you’ll cry” has an air of wisdom about it, but it’s deadening to a true sense of reality. If we want to grow in godliness—in Christ-likeness—it’s important to face the truth. The truth is, there is a lot to lament, and the sooner we face these things and stop trying to distract ourselves from them, the sooner we will find our comfort and consolation in the only One who will redeem our pain.
This mediation by Thomas A Kempis challenges me. Although, like in all his work, I see places where my theology doesn’t entirely agree, I also see an abundance of places where my way of thinking about God is malnourished. I know myself to be guilty of distracting myself with entertainment and the all-encompassing need to “have fun”, when the hunger in my soul is really to be close to God and to acknowledge my sorrows and disappointments. I pray you and I may become lovers of God in reality, and not only in the rose-tinted world we like to imagine.
Paraphrase of Thomas A Kempis
A Contrite Heart
If you would make any progress in godliness, keep yourself in the fear of God (Prov. 19:23), and don’t put your freedom on a pedestal. Harness and bridle all your senses and be committed to disciplining them. Don’t surrender them to foolishness and flippancy.
Instead, surrender yourself to contrition of heart, and you will gain in exchange a character marked by devotion to God. Contrition opens a door to a world of good, while the worship of pleasure seeks to keep that door locked shut. I’m bewildered by anyone who can completely revel in this life after seriously considering his banishment and the countless pains and trials of life in the world.
By trying to feel happy, and taking little serious interest in our failings, we become blind to the real sorrows of our souls. Because of this, we may catch ourselves laughing when we really have more reason to cry.
There is, in reality, no freedom or happiness but in the fear of God, conjoined with a good conscience.
Happy is he who can throw of all distracting impediments, and bring himself with focus and surrender to the purpose of contrition. Happy is he who can abandon all that defiles and burdens the conscience. Bravely fight! One habit overcomes another.
If you find you can mind your own business, you’ll find others will not poke their nose into yours.
Don’t busy yourself with things that have nothing to do with you; the same goes for busying yourself with the affairs of your those in authority. Examine yourself first, and be the first one to admonish yourself before those who love and care about you do.
If you find people ignore you or hate you, don’t be sad (Gal. 1:10). Take what I have to say to heart: don’t walk on eggshells, being overly cautious to gain approval, if it will jeopardize your identity as a servant of God—a dedicated Christian.
It is better and safer that you have few consolations in life (Ps. 76:5), especially if those consolations appeal to the flesh. If we only taste our divine consolation in Christ seldom, that’s on us, not Him, because we don’t seek to have contrition of heart and reveal in our actions that we do not seriously surrender our faith in worldly comforts.
Know that you are unworthy of Christ’s comfort, and really deserve eternal suffering. When you have finally arrived at pure contrition of heart, then all that world you used to love becomes disgusting and bitter to you (Judges. 2:4; 20:26; 2 Kgs 13).
A good man finds plenty of reasons to lament. Whether he considers himself or his neighbor, he knows that none live in this life without pain and suffering. The more completely and sincerely a man looks at his innermost self, the more sorrow he knows.
Our own entangling sin and evil make it so we seldom apply our minds to think and meditate on God, while at the same time they can lead us to good sorrow and contrition of heart. If we thought more often about our deaths than about vain hopes of living long, we would, without a doubt, be more zealous to improve in godliness.
If you seriously considered within yourself the unquenchable pains of the other world, I believe you would willingly undertake any labor or sorrow in this world, fearless in the face of life’s greatest challenges. But, since these things don’t tend to appear in our thoughts and wills, and since we still remain committed to the delights of the world and the flesh, therefore we tend to remain cold and half-hearted toward God.
It is often our lake of Spiritual life that makes our bodies so easily discontent. Pray therefore to God from a heart of humility that He will give you the spirit of contrition. Then you will say with the prophet, “Feed me, O Lord, with the bread of tears, and give me abundant tears to drink.” (Ps. 80:5).
(Adapted from chapter 21 of Imitation of Christ, “Of Compunction of Heart”)
Devotional from Imitation of Christ: Suffering