Works of Joseph Hall, Chapter 7 – Chapter 11
CHAP. VII.
Thirdly, that he be conſtant: and that, Firſt, in time and matter.ANd as our Clyent of Meditation muſt both bee pure and free in vndertaking this taske, ſo alſo conſtant in continuing it; Conſtant both in time and in matter: both in a ſet courſe and houre reſerued for this worke, and in an vnwearied proſecution of it once begunne. Thoſe that meditate by ſnatches and vncertaine fits, when onelyonly all other employments forſake them, or when good motions are thruſt vponupon them by neceſſitie, let them neuer hope to reach to any perfection. For theſe feeble beginnings of luke-warme grace, which are wrought in them by one fit of ſerious Meditation, are ſoone extinguiſhed by intermiſſion, and by miſ-wonting periſh: This daies meale (though large and liberall) ſtrengthens thee not for to morrow: the body languiſheth, if there bee not a daily ſupply of repaſt. Thus feede thy ſoule by Meditation; Set thine houres and keepe them, and yeeld not to an eaſie diſtraction. There is no hardneſſe in this practice, but in the beginning; vſe ſhall giuegive it not eaſe onelyonly, but delight. Thy companion entertaineth thee this while in louing diſcourſes, or ſome inexpected buſineſſe offers to interrupt thee. Neuer any good worke ſhall want ſome hinderance: Either breake through the lets, except it be with inciuility or loſſe; or if they bee importunate, pay thy ſelfe the time that was vnſeaſonably borrowed; and recompence thine omitted houres with the double labours of another day: For thou ſhalt finde, that deferring breeds (beſide the loſſe) an indiſpoſition to good; So that what was before pleaſant to thee, being omitted, to morrow growes harſh; the next day vnneceſſary; afterward odious. To day thou canſt, but wilt not; to morrow thou couldeſt, but liſteſt not; the next day thou neither wilt nor canſt bend thy minde on theſe thoughts. So I hauehave ſeene friends that vponupon neglect of dutie grow ouerly: vponupon ouerlineſſe, ſtrange; vponupon ſtrangeneſſe, to vtter defiance. Thoſe, whoſe very trade is Diminitie, (mee thinkes) ſhould omit no day without his line of Meditation: thoſe which are ſecular men, not many; remembring that they hauehave a common calling of Chriſtianitie to attend, as well as a ſpeciall vocation in the world: and that other being more noble and important, may iuſtly challenge both often and diligent ſeruice.
CHAP. VIII.
ANd as this conſtancie requires thee to keepe day with thy ſelfe,Secondly, that he be conſtant in the continuance. vnleſſe thou wilt proue bankrupt in good exerciſes; ſo alſo that thy minde ſhould dwell vponupon the ſame thought without flitting, without wearineſſe, vntill it hauehave attained to ſome iſſue of ſpirituall profit: otherwiſe it attempteth much, effecteth nothing. What auaileth it to knock at the doore of the heart, if we depart ere we hauehave an anſwer? What are we the warmer, if we paſſe haſtily along by the heart, and ſtay not at it? Thoſe that doe onelyonly trauell thorow Africke, become not Blackmores: but thoſe which are borne there, thoſe that inhabit there. We account thoſe damoſels too light of their louelove, which betroth themſelues vponupon the firſt ſight, vponupon the firſt motion: and thoſe we deeme of much price, which require long and earneſt ſolliciting. Hee deceiueth himſelfe that thinketh grace ſo eaſily wonne; there muſt be much ſuit and importunity, ere it will yeeld to our deſires: Not that wee call for a perpetuity of this labour of Meditation; Humane frailty could neuer beare ſo great a toile. Nothing vnderunder Heauen is capable of a continuall motion without complaint. It is enough for the glorified ſpirits aboue, to be euer thinking, and neuer weary. The minde of man is of a ſtrange metall; if it be not vſed, it ruſteth; if vſed hardly, it breaketh: briefly, is ſooner dulled than ſatisfied with a continuall Meditation. Whence it came to paſſe, that thoſe ancient Monkes, who intermedled bodily labour with their contemplations, proued ſo excellent in this diuine buſineſſe; when thoſe at this day, which hauing mewed and mured vp themſelues from the world, ſpend themſelues wholly vponupon their Beads and Crucifix, pretending no other worke but Meditation, hauehave cold hearts to God, and to the world ſhew nothing but a dull ſhadow of deuotion: for, that, if the thoughts of theſe latter were as diuine as they are ſuperſtitious; yet being, without all interchangeableneſſe, bent vponupon the ſame diſcourſe, the minde muſt needs grow weary, the thoughts remiſſe and languiſhing, the obiects tedious: while the other refreſhed themſelues with this wiſe variety, employing the hands, while they called off the minde, as good Comoedians ſo mixe their parts, that the pleaſantneſſe of the one, may temper the auſtereneſſe of the other; whereupon they gained both enough to the body, and to the ſoule more than if it had beene all the while buſied.
Beſides, the excellency of the obiect letteth this aſſiduity of Meditation, which is ſo glorious, that like vntounto the Sunne, it may abide to hauehave an eye caſt vp to it for a while, will not be gazed vponupon; whoſoeuer ventureth ſo farre, loſeth both his hope and his wits. If we hold with that bleſſed Monica, that ſuch like cogitations are the food of the minde, yet euen the minde alſo hath her ſatiety, and may ſurfet of too much. It ſhall be ſufficient therefore, that we perſeuere in our Meditation, without any ſuch affectation of perpetuity, and leaue without a light fickleneſſe; making alwaies not our Houre-glaſſe, but ſome competent increaſe of our deuotion, the meaſure of our continuance; knowing, that as for Heauen, ſo for our purſuit of grace, it ſhall auaile vsus little to hauehave begun well, without perſeuerance: and withall, that the ſoule of man is not alwaies in the like diſpoſition: but ſometimes is longer in ſetling, through ſome vnquietneſſe, or more obſtinate diſtraction; ſometimes heauier, and ſometimes more actiue, and nimble to diſpatch.*Sauing our iuſt quarrell againſt him for the Councell of Conſtance. Gerſon (whoſe authority I rather vſe, becauſe our aduerſaries diſclaime him for theirs) profeſſeth, hee hath beene ſometimes foure houres together working his heart, ere he could frame it to purpoſe. A ſingular patterne of vnwearied conſtancy, of an vnconquerable ſpirit; whom his preſent vnfitneſſe did not ſo much diſcourage, as it whetted him to ſtriue with himſelfe till he could ouercome. And ſurely other victories are hazzardous, this certaine, if we will perſiſt to ſtriue: other fights are vponupon hope, this vponupon aſſurance; whiles our ſucceſſe dependeth vponupon the promiſe of God, which cannot diſappoint vsus. Perſiſt therefore, and preuaile: perſiſt till thou haſt preuailed: ſo that which thou beganſt with difficulty, ſhall end in comfort.
CHAP. IX.
Of the Circumſtance of Meditation.FRom the qualities of the Perſon, we deſcend towards the action it ſelfe: where firſt we meet with thoſe circumſtances which are neceſſary for our prediſpoſition to the worke; Place, Time, Site of the body.
And therein, Firſt, of the place.Solitarineſſe of Place is fitteſt for Meditation. Retire thy ſelfe from others, if thou wouldſt talke profitably with thy ſelfe. So IESVS meditates alone in the Mount, Iſaac in the fields, Iohn Baptiſt in the Deſart, Dauid on his bed, Chryſoſtome in the Bath, each in ſeuerall places; but all ſolitary. There is no place free from God, none to which he is more tied: one findes his Cloſet moſt conuenient, where his eyes being limited by the knowne walls, call the minde after a ſort from wandring abroad. Another findeth his ſoule more free, when it beholdeth his heauen aboue and about him. It matters not ſo we be ſolitary and ſilent. It was a witty and diuine ſpeech of Bernard, that the Spouſe of the ſoule, CHRIST IESVS, is baſhfull, neither willingly commeth to his Bride in the preſence of a multitude. And hence is that ſweet inuitation which wee finde of her: Come, my welbeloued, let vsus goe forth into the fields: let vsus lodge in the villages: Let vsus goe vp early to the Vines: let vsus ſee if the Vine flouriſh, whether it hath diſcloſed the firſt Grape, or whether the Pomegranates bloſſome; there will I giuegive thee my louelove. Abandon therefore all worldly ſociety, that thou maieſt change it for the company of GOD and his Angels; the ſociety, I ſay, of the world, not outward onelyonly, but inward alſo. There be many that ſequeſter themſelues from the viſible company of men, which yet carry a world within them; who being alone in body, are haunted with a throng of fancies: as Ierome, in his wildeſt Deſart, found himſelfe too oft in his thoughts amongſt the dances of the Roman Dames. This company is worſe than the other: for it is more poſſible for ſome thoughtfull men to hauehave a ſolitary minde in the midſt of a market, than for a man thus diſpoſed to be alone in a wilderneſſe. Both companies are enemies to Meditations; whither tendeth that ancient counſell of a great Maſter in this Art, of three things requiſite to this buſineſſe, Secrecy, Silence, Reſt: whereof the firſt excludeth company, the ſecond noiſe, the third motion. It cannot be ſpoken how ſubiect we are in this worke, to diſtraction, like Salomons old man, whom the noiſe of eueryevery bird wakeneth: ſenſuall delights we are not drawne from with the three-fold cords of iudgement; but our ſpirituall pleaſures are eaſily hindred. Make choice therefore of that place, which ſhall admit the feweſt occaſions of with-drawing thy ſoule from good thoughts: wherein alſo euen change of places is ſomewhat preiudiciall; and I know not how it falls out, that we finde God neerer vsus in the place where we hauehave beene accuſtomed familiarly to meet him: not for that his preſence is confined to one place aboue others, but that our thoughts are, through cuſtome more eaſily gathered to the place where we hauehave ordinarily conuerſed with him.
CHAP. X.
Secondly, of the time.ONe Time cannot be preſcribed to all: for neither is God bound to houres, neither doth the contrary diſpoſition of men agree in one choice of opportunities: the golden houres of the morning ſome finde fitteſt for Meditation, when the body newly raiſed, is well calmed with his late reſt, and the ſoule hath not as yet had from theſe outward things any motiues of alienation. Others finde it beſt to learne wiſdome of their reines in the night; hoping with Iob, that their bed will bring them comfort in their Meditation; when both all other things are ſtill, and themſelues, wearied with theſe earthly cares, doe out of a contempt of them, grow into greater liking and louelove of heauenly things. I hauehave euer found Iſaacs time fitteſt, who went out in the euening to meditate. No precept, no practice of others can preſcribe to vsus in this circumſtance. It ſhall be enough, that firſt we ſet our ſelues a time: ſecondly, that we ſet apart that time, wherein we are apteſt for this ſeruice. And as no time is preiudiced with vnfitneſſe, but eueryevery day is without difference ſeaſonable for this worke, ſo eſpecially Gods Day. No day is barren of grace to the ſearcher of it, none alike fruitfull to this; which being by God ſanctified to himſelfe, and to be ſanctified by vsus to God, is priuileged with bleſſings aboue others: for the plentifull inſtruction of that Day ſtirreth thee vp to this action, and fills thee with matter; and the zeale of thy publike ſeruice warmeth thy heart to this other buſineſſe of deuotion. No MANNA fell to the Iſraelites on their Sabbath; our ſpirituall MANNA falleth on ours, moſt frequent: if thou wouldſt hauehave a full ſoule, gather as it falls; gather it by hearing, reading, meditation: ſpirituall idleneſſe is a fault this Day, perhaps not leſſe than bodily worke.
CHAP. XI.
NEither is there leſſe variety in the Site and geſture of the body:Of the Site and geſture of the body. the due compoſedneſſe wherof is no little aduantage to this exerciſe; euen in our ſpeech to God, we obſerue not alwaies one and the ſame poſition; ſometimes wee fall groueling on our faces; ſometimes we bow our knees; ſometimes ſtand on our feet; ſometimes we lift vp our hands, ſometimes caſt downe our eies. God is a Spirit, who therefore being a ſeuere obſeruer of the diſpoſition of the ſoule, is not ſcrupulous for the body; requiring not ſo much, that the geſture thereof ſhould be vniforme, as reuerent. No maruell therefore though in this, all our teachers of Meditation hauehave commended ſeuerall poſitions of body, according to their diſpoſition and practice.*Gerſon. One, ſitting with the face turned vp to heauen-ward, according to the precept of the Philoſopher, who taught him, that by ſitting and reſting, the minde gathereth wiſdome.*Guliel. Pariſ. Another, leaning to ſome Reſt, towards the left ſide, for the greater quieting of the heart.*D…onyſ. Carthuſ. A third, ſtanding with the eies lift vp to Heauen, but ſhut, for feare of diſtractions. But of all other (me thinketh) Iſaacs choice the beſt, who meditated walking. In this let eueryevery man be his owne maſter; ſo be we vſe that frame of body that may both teſtifie reuerence, and in ſome caſes helpe to ſtirre vp further deuotion; which alſo muſt needs be varied according to the matter of our Meditation. If we thinke of our ſinnes. Ahabs ſoft paſe, the Publicans deiected eies, and his hand beating his breſt, are more ſeaſonable. If of the ioyes of heauen, Steuens countenance fixed aboue, and Dauids hands lift vp on high, are moſt fitting. In all which, the body, as it is the inſtrument and vaſſall of the ſoule, ſo will eaſily follow the affections thereof; and in truth then is our deuotion moſt kindly, when the body is thus commanded his ſeruice by the Spirit, and not ſuffered to goe before it, and by his forwardneſſe to prouoke his maſter to emulation.