The Christians Guide to Devotion, Part 3 · Chapter 5
CHAP. V. That we are not to conſult our Heart and Senſes in the choice of Pleaſures: That Devotion leads us to true Pleaſure.
'TIS obſerv'd, that for the obtaining any thing we muſt ask much more than we have a mind to get; and that to bring men to juſt Sentiments in withdrawing them from their Errours, it is good to carry them a little into the other Extremity, that in their return they may abide at leaſt in a reaſonable middle. This perhaps has made ſo many Chriſtian Authors and Preachers to imitate the ſtyle of the Stoicks upon the Nature of Pleaſure and Pain. Theſe People ſay, that Pain is no evil; and Pleaſure is not a Good: We can ſay, they be perfectly happy in the burning Bull of Phalar is, and perfectly unhappy in taſting the greateſt Pleaſures. This method is not, it may be, ſo good, as we imagine: We ſoyle and diſhearten mens Minds by requiring too much of them; and nothing is perſuaſive, when Truth is inveſted with Paradoxes, which awaketh curioſity, but diſtemper the Mind. After all, we can never perſuade men to the contrary to what they feel. Cicero tells us of one of theſe Philoſophers, who had bin blinded by the pompous reaſonings of his Sect; But a great Rheum falling upon his Eyes, which put him to horrible Tortures, prevailed over the Illuſions of his Philoſophy, and made him abandon it. When we ſee one of theſe Sages cruelly tormented upon his Bed with the Gout or Stone; and hear him ſay, Thou mayſt do as thou wilt, O Pain, but thou ſhalt never make me confeſs, thou art an evil, we cannot keep our ſelves from looking upon this as a Comedy and profound Hypocriſie: Reaſon can do nought againſt Experience, nor againſt a Senſe ſo lively as that of pain. The Martyrs, I conceive might be happy amidſt their puniſhments, becauſe they did not feel all their Pains. For I hold that their Soul by the help of Grace was ſo ſtrongly taken up with the Glory and Crown they were about to receive, that hardly any Room remain'd to them for other Sentiments. The Patience of the Faithful in their Calamities ariſes, in my Opinion, from no other cauſe, than that their Souls being fixt wholly upon God, and his Heaven the Object of their Hope, do partly unite 'emſelves from the Body, and give leſs Heed or Attention to it's Annoyances: Impatience, on the other ſide, is a motion of the Soul, which turns it ſelf wholly to the Body, to be abandon'd to pain, and to feel all its racks. So that I conclude, Pain is an Evil: Which is to confeſs bodily Pleaſure is a good. 'Twas my belief, I owed this Confeſſion to them, whom we would prevail withall to renounce ſenſual and fleſhly Pleaſures, that by this ſincerity and plain dealing, we may render them more attentive to our Reaſons.
We do not entreat them to renounce bodily. Pleaſure as an evil in its ſelf, but as a petty and ſmall good, that brings along after it, in its train, an incredible Multitude of miſchiefs; and as a good, which is unworthy of Man born for the moſt noble Pleaſures, and deſtin'd to the poſſeſſion of the greateſt Goods. What ever we do we can never rivit out of the Mind of man this Opinion; that Happineſs conſiſts in Pleaſure. I will not oppoſe this Maxime: The chiefeſt beatitude conſiſts, without doubt, in the Poſſeſſion of the chiefeſt Good, and in this Poſſeſſion the Soul taſts it's chief Pleaſure. And if we pleaſe, we may call this chief Pleaſure the chief Happineſs of man. But men are terribly chows'd herein: They are perſuaded, that the Soul is not capable of any true Pleaſure, without it be what comes from the Body. Among men generally, a ſpiritual pleaſure and a chimerical pleaſure are all one. All thoſe who make their felicity to conſiſt in Contemplation and in Actions intirely removed from thoſe, which make up carnal pleaſure, paſs in the World for viſionary wights; this Errour ſprings from the Heart and Senſes: And therefore I ſay, that in the Judgment we ought to have of pleaſures, and in the choice we ought to make thereof, we are not to conſult either our Senſes or our Heart. This miſtake, I ſay, is cauſed by the Heart and Senſes; becauſe they believe nothing agreeable, but what is agreeable to them. We judge things good or evil only according to the relation they have to the Faculties, whereunto they raiſe either pleaſure or Pain: And therefore the Heart and Senſes which are corporeal cannot be touch'd by ſpiritual things: They judge theſe cannot be agreeable, becauſe they are ſenſible of no Pleaſure in them: Juſt as a blind man, if he would judge according to the report of his Senſes, undoubtedly he would judge, that there are no colours; or if there were, they could not make any Impreſſion upon his Senſes. This is then an Impoſture which we muſt lay open and diſperſe.
Firſt of all, we ought to remember, that Man is made up of two parts, the Soul and Body: Each of theſe parts hath it's ſeparate and diſtinct Goods. The Goods of the Mind are ſpiritual, and thoſe of the Body neceſſarily corporeal. Of theſe two parts the Soul is infinitely the more excellent. From this, Man is properly denominated, and the Body is but a Retainer to him; ſo that conſequently, the Goods and Pleaſures which belong to the Soul by its ſelf, are infinitely greater than thoſe which come by the interpoſition of the Body. Laſtly, 'tis very eaſie to comprehend why the Senſes and the Heart indge otherwiſe: Theſe being bodily Faculties, we need not wonder they hold clearly for bodily things. As for the Senſes, this is without diſpute, they are corporeal, both in their Organs and in their Operations: they perceive only the Superficies of Bodies. This is no leſs true of the Heart, it is corporeal too; for I underſtand by the Heart, the ſeat of the Paſſions, and the Imagination: 'tis very evident, that both theſe Faculties are bodily Faculties. For the Imagination is the feat wherein are repreſented thoſe Images that come from the Senſes and offer themſelves to our Mind in the abſence of Objects. The Paſſions alſo are corporeal, becauſe they are formed by Mechanical Movements: This is manifeſt by thoſe Characters they impreſs upon the Body, as the motion of the Blood, quick, ſlow, or precipitate; Paleneſs or Ruddineſs of Complexion; the Fire and languiſhing, which they impreſs upon the eyes. The Senſes and Heart, which are corporeal, being the Gates whereat Objects do enter and accoſt the mind, bring nothing to it but bodily Images, and raiſe in it only ſenſual Pleaſures; and the Soul hereby gets an habit of believing there are no other Pleaſures beſides theſe, ſince it does not endeavour to diſingage it ſelf from the Body, and to taſte others. But can it be poſſible we ſhould be ſuch enemies to our ſelves, and ſo irrational, as to believe our Senſes touching a thing of ſo great Importance? The Senſes are unable to know the thouſandth part of Bodies. As ſoon as ever a Body ceaſes to have a conſiderable Extenſion, we ceaſe to ſee and feel it; and would we make theſe very Senſes to be judges of things abſolutely Spiritual? Certainly, the Soul is very unhappy and very much a Slave, if it cannot taſte that Pleaſure which is its ſovereign Felicity, but it muſt be beholden to the Body for it. If Matter be the Spring of true Pleaſure, what do thoſe Souls do, I wonder, that are ſeparated from Matter? what muſt be the Beatitude of Angels, that have no Body? Is it not true, that their Pleaſures ought to be as far above ours, as Minds are above Matter? Aſſuredly, ſpiritual Pleaſures ſpring from the knowledge of Truth, from the practiſe of Virtue, from our union with God by the tyes of Love, and from that Action, whereby God unites himſelf immediately to our Soul. All this is intirely above the Senſes: they are not acquainted with Truth; for their Office is to report the Appearances of Bodies: They cannot judge of Virtue; it is not under their Juriſdiction: much leſs can they judge of that Union betwixt God and the Soul. And yet, although they make no report to us about any of theſe things, we are not nevertheleſs to doubt of the real Impreſſions they make upon our Souls.
But, from whence comes it, ſay ſome, that ſpiritual Pleaſures are not ſo touching and make not ſuch ſtrong Impreſſions upon the Soul, as bodily ones doe? For you ſee not, ſay they, your devout People in thoſe Tranſports of Joy and Pleaſure, as we ſee men have in the injoyment of Senſual Pleaſures. Is not this a proof that thoſe intellectual pleaſures are merely imaginary, or at leaſt that they are very weak and languiſhing. This difficulty ariſes from that men know not how to diſtinguiſh the Soul from the body: they believe it is concern'd in proportion to the greatneſs of the agitations of the Bodily Organs: They are perſuaded, that it cannot receive an impreſſion of Joy, but by the interpoſal of theſe great corporeal motions. But the thing is far otherwiſe: 'tis certain, that in the great Pleaſures, which the Soul receives from the Body, the great corporeal Agitations re'ncounter one another, and it receives not thoſe pleaſures but by favour of theſe agitations, and becauſe the Bloud and Spirits are in a great heat and ferment: But the Pleaſures of holy Perſons, which are lock'd up in the Soul it ſelf, and which exert no external Characters, do not fail to make very powerful Impreſſion. Theſe Pleaſures are ſo great and ſo touching, that they carry the Soul out of the World: And the Joy, which ſprings from the poſſeſſion of God, from the Knowledge of his Truth, and the imitation of his Vertues and Attributes, muſt needs infinitely tranſcend all the pleaſures of the Body: Since that for theſe ſpiritual pleaſures, we not only renounce bodily ones, but alſo expoſe our ſelves to all, even the moſt ſenſible pains. True it is, the more the Soul is accuſtomed to let its ſelf be moved by the Agitations, which do cauſe corporeal Pleaſures and Paſſions, the more is it uncapable of taſting Internal joys and ſpiritual Pleaſures. And this is one of the greateſt miſchiefs that ſpring from the continual uſe of ſenſuality: the Soul waxeth fat, as the holy Ghoſt ſpeaketh: the heart of the Wicked is fat as greaſe; he hath prophaned the Rock of his Salvation. It covers its ſelf, as it were, with fleſh and bloud, and taſtes nothing, but what flatters this Fleſh and Bloud. And therefore among ſenſual Pleaſures, there are permitted our Devout Perſon only thoſe which are moderate. The Senſes love to receive ſtrong impreſſions of Objects, provided there be no wound in the caſe; the imagination loves alſo to be powerfully moved: But all theſe emotions make ſuch mighty impreſſions upon the Soul, as it hardly can come to it ſelf again: And therefore they ought carefully to be avoided.
But if we would have more ſenſible proofs, that the heart, the paſſions and the ſenſes are not to be conſulted about the choice of Pleaſures; let us hear experience, and caſt an eye upon the diſorders of the world. Such are, the conſequences of this blindneſs in men, who follow their own heart and ſenſes in the choice of Goods and Pleaſures. Why did the firſt Woman lay hold on the forbidden fruit? becauſe it was good and pleaſant to the eye, ſhe hearkened to her Heart and Senſes. How did corruption ariſe to that high pitch in the World, that it forced God's Juſtice to bring upon it a terrible Deiuge? Becauſe the Sons of God ſaw the Daughters of men that they were fair: they ſtopt their Ears to the voice of God, which call'd upon them; they heark'ned to the ſollicitations of their own ſenſual heart: they took them Wives, of all which they choſe, and corrupted themſelves with them. Did not David commit Adultery and Murder in a little time, becauſe he gave ear to his ſenſes and heart, and let his paſſions ſeduce him? did not Solomon become an Idolater, becauſe his ſinful love for Women having blinded his eyes, ſeparated him from God, and ſtopt the Ears of his Soul: ſo as his mind heard only the voice of his Paſſions and his Senſes? Laſtly, did not St. Peter deny his Lord and Maſter; for that his heart, his ſenſes, his imagination made him ſee preſent Death in an affrightful poſture, and he conſulted neither God nor his own reaſon?
We ſeem here to blend and confound Innocence with Sin, in ſpeaking of our Heart and our Senſes, as common Sources of our errours: Since that the Senſes may ſeem rather to be unhappy and unfortunate than Criminal and Sinful. True, the Senſes are ſubject to two unhappineſſes. The firſt is to be forced to receive Objects which are ſinful, and capable of tranſferring Images of corruption to the Heart; ſuch are evil Examples, ſcandalous Actions and Words. The other misfortune of the Senſes is, that they take in innocent Objects, and ſometimes in an innocent manner; and theſe Images do ſpoyl and corrupt themſelves in the Heart. Nevertheleſs, I think we ought not to ſeparate the Senſes from the Heart, they make but one and the ſame thing. This is a Match at the end of which lies a great heap of Gun-powder. The Hear and the Imagination are the inward extremity of this Match; they are the Magazine of Powder: The Senſes are the other end, to which the Objects ſet fire. This Fire ſlides, or rather it flies along the Match: It enkindles the Imagination, and puts the Heart into a flame: And therefore the holy Spirit puts for the ſame thing, To walk in the ways of ones heart, and in the ſight of ones Eyes.
In ſhort, if we would be perfectly aſſured that our Heart and Senſes are evil Counſellors in this affair, hear what the holy Scripture ſaith; it conſiders our Heart as the root of all our Evils. Every imagination of the thoughts of Man's heart is only evil continually. The Heart is deceitful above all things and deſperately wicked; who can know it? Out of the Heart proceed evil Thoughts, Murders, Adulteries, Fornications, Thefts, falſe Witneſs, Blaſphemies: Theſe are the things which defile a Man. The holy Ghoſt repreſents the Heart to us, as blind, wrapt up in a thick Cloud and profound darkneſs: it ſpeaks of it, as of a kind of Death, it is of the Earth, it is carnal. How then canan Heart thus compoſed and fram'd judge of the true Goods and Pleaſures? How can there come any thing good from a poyſoned Spring. And thus we ſee that the Wife man puts this Maxime among the members of thoſe we are to deteſt and abominate, Walk in the ways of thine Heart and in the ſight of thine Eyes.
I ſhould end here, were it unneceſſary to take off one Scandal that may be taken at what we have ſaid, that ſenſual Pleaſure is a Good, and even a Good for the Soul: For, in a word, if the Soul, be that not only which perceives, and which taſtes Pleaſure, and if Pleaſure be a Good, 'tis a Good of the Soul. If it be a good, then ſome will ſay, we are to ſeek and love it. It's not ſufficient to anſwer that this is a Good of the Body only, that is not abſolutly true: 'tis, in ſome ſort the good of the Soul, becauſe the Soul taſtes it. Further, if this Good were only for the Body, yet it does not follow, it ſhould therefore be of neceſſity unlawful; ſince we are not always forbidden to ſeek the Good of the Body. But we ought not only to conſider a thing in its ſelf, to know whether it be good or bad; we muſt conſider it in its cauſes and its effects, in what precedes it, what may be the conſequence of it. I mean, that the Pleaſure which comes to the Soul by the Body, is a ſort of Good conſidered in it ſelf. Look upon its Source, and ſee to what it produces. The Source is Sin, is Impurity, is Rebellion againſt the law of our Creator. What it produces is a diſunion between God and our Soul: 'tis a pawning our ſelves to Death, 'tis the pain of everlaſting burnings. How can we under the Idea of a Good conceive a thing which is incompaſt about by ſo many moral Impurities and ſuch real Miſchiefs? If therefore, bodily Pleaſure can be called a Good with reſpect to the preſent ſentiment of the Soul, it's an Evil in all other regards; it's an Evil to ſpeak Abſolutely: and therefore the wifeſt men of all Ages, have plac'd it among the falſe Goods: for a true Good ought to be good on every ſide we view it.
The Soul then has no true Pleaſure but what ariſes from its union with God. And this union is fortified according to the meaſure that we looſen our ſelves from ſenſible things, and are united to God by the knowledge of his Truth: Not of thoſe Verities which Philoſophy ſeeks after, and never finds with any certainty, but of thoſe Divine truths which Faith diſcovers to us of thoſe wholſome Verities, which are the Candle of the Soul. Thy Word is a Lamp to my Feet, and a light to my Paths. It enlightens the Eyes and makes wiſe the ſimple. The ſecond Bond, whereby we are united to God, is Virtue; the Practice of which renders us like to our Creator; renews his Image in us, and makes us to be the Copies of that Beauty whereof he's the original. the third cord is the love, with which we love God, and that by which we are beloved of him. By this Love he is in us, and we are in him; becauſe Love makes a transfuſion of Hearts, and the Soul is more in the Subject, which it loves, than in that which it animates. As to the pleaſures which ſpring from this union, it is of the number of thoſe things, which cannot be conceiv'd without they be felt. 'Tis ſuch, that all the Pleaſures of the World appear unſavoury, to them that taſte it. 'Tis ſo great as it hath often made the Saints to fall down, who have been extraordinarily touch'd with its holy Extaſies and Raviſhments, which ſeem'd to have entirely broke the Alliance betwixt the Body and the Soul. Now without queſtion it is, that Devotion contributes and leads to this Pleaſure. It diminiſhes our union with ſenſual things; diſunites us from our Body; lifts us up to God; purifies our Souls in drawing nigh to him; makes them partake of the Beams of that great Sun of righteouſneſs; and renders them as ſo many little Gods, by communicating with the Glory of our great God.
Meditation.
NO wonder thou ſeekeſt Pleaſure, O my Soul: thou ſeekeſt thy Good; thou ſeekeſt what thou haſt loſt, thou ſeekeſt what was given thee, what thou once hadſt, and what thou ſhouldeſt have ſtill, hadſt thou continued innocent. Thy God created thee righteous and holy: This holineſs was the bond of his union with thee: thou wert ſeparated from him, when thou becameſt ſinfull, and thorough this ſeparation thou haſt continued void and deprived of Pleaſure and Happineſs. Every where thou ſeekeſt the Good thou haſt loſt: but blind as thou art, thou catcheſt at Shadows for real Bodies. Thou wandereſt upon different Objects, and if thou findeſt any one that flatters thee, ſtraightway thou embraceſt it with ardour, as if thou hadſt found that which thou haſt loſt, and ſeekeſt for. Thou diſabuſeſt thy ſelf in a little time, but it is to fall into an other Errour: After having taſted bodily Pleaſure, thou perceiveſt that this is not the infinite Pleaſure thou ſearcheſt after. This Object being quitted, thou doſt caſt thy ſelf upon another: thou Embraceſt this too, and every day thou delighteſt to be fed with new and new Illuſions. Leave off, O my heart, leave off rambling and running after theſe Fantoms: Be not decieved by thy Senſes and Imagination. Embrace thy God; 'tis to him alone thou oweſt this general Inclination, which makes thee to love Felicity and Pleaſure: but thy blinded Eyes make thee love falſe Gods, and fix themſelves upon falſe Pleaſures. If thou wert not profoundly blind thou could'ſt not doubt that God is infinite, that he is infinitely good, and infinitely better than all the Creatures. Thou could'ſt not alſo doubt but the pleaſure which comes from Union with him and the Poſſeſſion of him, is infinitely greater than all the Pleaſures of the World beſides. If the created Goods be ſo ſweet, how agreeable muſt the increated Good be? The Good which is the Creator of all Goods? the Good which comprehends the pleaſure of all other Goods? the Good which diſplays thoſe Delights in our Hearts, that are as far above all Pleaſures, as he himſelf is eminent above all Goods? Herein thou art incredulous, O my Soul, becauſe thou haſt not reliſh'd the ſweetneſs, which ſprings from being united with God: thou canſt not believe them, thou ſay'ſt with Thomas, Except I ſhould ſee, except I touch and feel thoſe Delights, I will not believe. Ah! how happy and bleſt is he, who has believ'd before he hath ſeen, who has overcome all the temptations of the Fleſh, and has deſired to taſte thoſe divine Pleaſures before he taſted them. But that Perſon is incomparably more happy, that hath believed and hath ſeen, that hath taſted thoſe Delights and felt thoſe Pleaſures which ſurpaſs all underſtanding, which ſpring from the intimate preſence of God. If thou haſt not yet been able, O my Soul, to feel ſuch ſpiritual Pleaſures, the reaſon is, thy God could not yet apply himſelf immediately to thee, becauſe of the Impurity wherewith thou art cover'd and defiled: …or his Eyes are pure, they cannot behold Iniquity: he is Purity and Light it ſelf, and thou art enwrapt in a dark Cloud of Ignorance and Unrighteouſneſs. How then could God joyn himſelf immediately to thee? Therefore take away thy Veil, this Wall of Separation: cure thy own ignorances; ſeek after the Knowledge of thy God and his Myſteries: purifie thy ſelf: …et rid of thoſe ill Habits of Vice which …rround thee like a Garment, and thy God will inveſt thee with a Robe of Light; and …hen ſhalt thou perceive, that the applying …enſible Objects to thy faculties is not capable of raiſing in thee that Senſe of Pleaſure which thou mayſt receive from God: Then …ilt thou have a perfect diſguſt to thoſe vain Pleaſures; thou wilt wiſh to ſee thy God, … know him, to embrace him, that thou …ayſt be united to him.
Prayer.
O Father of Lights, inexhauſtible ſpring of Pleaſure and Joy! inſinuate thy ſelf into all the Faculties of my Soul; fill up the emptineſs of my deſires, and that vaſt extenſion of my Heart, and make me to feel that Joy which thou communicateſt to thy Saints and Favorites. Ʋnto thee I diſcover my wants; I confeſs my Nothing; I languiſh after thee, my True Good. Without thee, O Lord, I ſhould be the moſt miſerable of all Creatures; I ſhould be plunged into an Abyſs of Grief and Deſpair, I ſhould feel nothing but horror and anguiſh: Thou comforteſt me in this Valley of Tears; thou feedeſt me with the bread of angels, and makeſt me drink of thy Pleaſures, as out of a River. The World is not acquainted with theſe delights; the meats of thy Table to it are inſipid, it taſtes nothing but the Fleſh-pots of Egypt, and knows not what i… the Honey of the Land of Promiſe. I know it, O my God, but I do not know ſo as I would, and ought to know. I have learn'd of thy Saints, that when thou ſpeakeſt to thy children in their hearts, this Sentiment is ſweeter than Honey and the Honey-comb; and that more pleaſure is to be found in poſſeſſing thee, than the covetous find in having the greateſt abundance of Gold and Silver. But alas! my Soul hath not yet felt thoſe divine Tranſports. I begin to perceive, that earthly Pleaſures are uncapable of ſatisfying that hunger and thirſt after pleaſure and happineſs whereof I labour: but I have not as yet perfectly learn'd that thou alone art capable of quenching that thirſt. Taſte and ſee how gracious the Lord is: I taſte thee as I ſee thee; I ſee thee but imperfectly, and as in a Glaſs, I taſte thee as covered from me. Over thee indeed are no involving incumbrances, for thou art all pure and ſingle, and whoſoever is pure, may taſte thee purely: But the veil is in my Fleſh, or rather it is my Fleſh it ſelf, it is my corruption, that ſeparates me from thee. Come therefore Lord Jeſus, come thou creating Spirit, and Creator of Spirits, create in me a new Heart, and renew a right Spirit within me, that my Soul may be filled with thy Delights, and I may taſte all the ſweetneſs of thy Love. Thirſty I am after Pleaſure; open thy Fountain of eternal Pleaſures, and let thy Rivers f…w into my Soul. Kiſs me with the kiſſes of thy Mouth, for thy Love is better than Wine. Tell me (O thou whom my Soul loveth) where thou makeſt thy Flocks to reſt at noon: For why ſhould I be as one that turneth aſide by the …ks of thy companions? Why ſhould my Soul …ander amidſt the vain Pleaſures of the World, and why ſhould it bring to thee ſo many falſe Goods for companions? Let me retire under thy ſhadow, embrace, adore, love thee only, and taste no Pleaſure but what is in thee. Draw me therefore, that I may run after thee: draw near to me, that I may be able to draw near to thee. Prevent me by thy Grace, by thy Mercy, and by the bowels of thy Compaſſion, ſtirred up for a prodigaland rambling Son, who ſeeks but cannot find thee. Awake, O Northwind, and come thou South, blow upon my Garden, that the Spices thereof may flow out: Let my beloved come into his Garden, and eat his pleaſant Fruits. O Holy Spirit, thou South-wind, the Father of Heat, Author of Generation, Source of Love and Charity, blow upon the Powers of my Soul, which are as a Deſart, make them an Eden, a Garden of the Almighty; make odoriferous Plants to grow there, produce there Habits and Works of a ſweet odour; ſo as my heavenly Saviour, the beloved of my Soul, may come and taſte the ſweetneſs of thoſe Fruits, that he may delight in me, and I in him, and that we may eternally taſte all thoſe Pleaſures, the products of a mutual Love.