Thomas A Kempis 1.17 - The religious life

Thomas A Kempis 1.17 - The religious life

It is necessary to learn to break away from your own will in many things, if you want to remain in peace and harmony with others. It is not easy to live in a religious community or congregation, and to live there without complaint, and to remain faithful even until death. Blessed is the one who has lived a good life there, and completed it happily. If you want to stand your ground and prosper there, carry yourself as an exile and a pilgrim on this earth. You must become a fool for the sake of Christ, if you want to lead a religious life.

The clothing and the outward appearance of being religious aren't that important; it is the change of character and the willingness to kill off our passions that truly make a religious man. The one who seeks something else besides purely God and the health of his soul, will find only trouble and sorrow. It's not possible to stay peaceably without relying on being the least, and servant of all.

You have come to serve, not to rule. Know your vocation: peacemaking and labor, not relaxation and small-talk. This life tests men as gold in the furnace. No one can stand here unless with all his heart for God's sake he will become humble. 

Imitation of Christ by Thomas A Kempis, 1.17

Translation focused on contemporary English and preservation of rhetorical force and art