Tuesday, February 9, 2010

We must be simple in spirit and action




"God is a simple Being in Whom there are no parts. Hence, if we want to become as much like Him as possible, we must strive to become by virtue, what He is by nature, that is, we must be simple in spirit and action, natural in speech and behavior, without sham or deception. Our exterior must always be in conformity with our interior and only and always we must have no other intentions in mind than to please God."


-- St Vincent de Paul

1 comment:

aspiring... said...

Writing about the practice of confession specifically - although it also has universal application - Mother Teresa of Calcutta said, "We should be very simple and childlike... If a child... has not learned to tell lies, he will tell everything. This is what I mean by being childlike."

I appreciate her thought, and have drifted about on it, and I see it expanded in the ideas of your post.

I think it is exactly as we grow - tasting more and more fear and desire - that we become more divided and conflicted and less honest; and that things get complex.

But the look backwards and the look upwards through and beyond complexities and dishonesties, to simplicity and honesty, is easy in Jesus; impossible otherwise. 'Fear not, want not either' isn't so much a way of being as it is a place abandoned. And it is all the more precious I think when revisited and reclaimed with intent.

And so much more could be said.

So glad you're here, God be with you, Sister, I pray in Jesus' Name, aspiring