Thomas A Kempis - Imitation 1.1 in Modern English

Preface: Recently I have been looking for a modern translation of the Christian classic The Imitation of Christ by Thomas A Kempis, originally written in Latin some 600ish years ago. Not being satisfied with the translations I've found so far, I peeked at a Latin version and discovered 1) My Latin (which is not as deep as I might like) is now also embarrassingly rusty, 2) Despite all that, the Latin original still reads better than the translations I've found. The original matches spiritual insight with a poetic quality. The Latin freely employs alliteration and rhyme to structure the text, pace the progression, and emphasize its points. And though it has been a long time since I've translated anything, I thought I might at least try the opening section. My hope is that this sketch captures more of the force and pace, recovering some aspects of the Latin text that tend to be lost in translation. I am also aiming for a more fully modern English, avoiding words that have fallen out of use (e.g. "vanity"), opting instead for words that an average person might use to make the same point. 

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Book 1 Chapter 1, On the imitation of Christ and rejecting worldly trivialities

"He who follows me does not walk in darkness," says the Lord. These are the words of Christ, and they teach us how far we must imitate his life and character, if we seek true illumination, and to make our hearts fully free from blindness. So let us set our minds on the life of Jesus Christ as our meditation. 

His teaching surpasses all teaching of holy men, and those who have His Spirit find in it the hidden manna. But there are many who, though they frequently hear the Gospel, yet feel little desire for it, because they do not have the spirit of Christ. Whoever wants to understand the words of Christ fully and wisely, let him strive to conform his whole life to them. 

What does it gain you to enter into deep discussion about the Trinity, if you lack humility and so are displeasing to the Trinity? Truly, words that are lofty do not make a man holy and upright; it is a good life which makes a man dear to God. I would rather feel contrition than know its definition. If you knew the whole Bible and the sayings of all the philosophers, what does that gain you without love and grace? It's the most pointless of all pointless things. It is all pointless, except to love God, and to serve Him only. This is the highest wisdom, by contempt for worldliness, to tend to the heavenly kingdom. 

So it is pointless to seek after, and to trust in, riches that will vanish. It is pointless, too, to covet honors, and to self-promote. It is pointless to follow the flesh and be led by lust, doing things that ought to be punished. It is pointless to care so much for a long life and care so little if it is a good life. It is pointless to tend to the present life only, and not look ahead to the future. It is pointless to love that which quickly fades, and not hurry to where eternal joy remains. 

You know the saying, "The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear with hearing." So strive to detach your heart from the love of what you see, and attach it to what is not seen. Those who follow their own sensuality stain their conscience, and lose the grace of God. 

Whatever is worthy of praise

I find myself overwhelmed lately by my workload, and drawing on St Paul's advice: "Whatever is worthy of praise, think on these things." You may already be familiar with Pentatonix. Their cover/remix of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah is on the shortlist of the most beautiful things I have ever heard. To add a layer, here is a video of someone who had never heard of Pentatonix and didn't know he was in for a treat, hearing their rendition of Hallelujah for the first time. I enjoy watching his face change from respect for their competence (they start slow) to appreciation for their harmonies to sheer joy by the finale as they perform what may be the best rendition of the song that has been made. 

G.O.T Games first time hearing Pentatonix. 

These are some of those things that restore my soul. 

Thomas A Kempis and the walk with Christ

It has been years since I last read any Thomas A Kempis. Yesterday I found myself trying to remember or find a quote that (in my mind at least) was attributed to him. While trying to find the quote I was seeking (no luck there), I came across a good number of other of his edifying thoughts attributed to him. Here are the ten sayings I was readiest to hear: 

1. "To say that I am made in the image of God is to say that love is the reason for my existence, for God is love."
2. "Constantly choose rather to want less, than to have more."
3. "Be thankful for the smallest blessing, and you will be worthy to receive greater."
4. "When anger enters the mind, wisdom departs."
5. "Do not anger yourself that you cannot make others as you wish them to be, since you cannot make yourself as you wish to be."
6. "If we live in peace ourselves, we in turn may bring peace to others. A peaceable man does more good than a learned one."
7. "Confidence is the illusion born of accidental success."
8. "He who loves with purity considers not the gift of the lover, but the love of the giver."
9. "Judge yourself and beware of passing judgement on others. In judging others we expend our energy to no purpose; we are often mistaken and easily sin. But if we judge ourselves our labour is always to our profit."
10. "He has great serenity of heart who cares neither for the praises nor the fault-finding of men. He will easily be satisfied and at peace, whose conscience is pure. You are not holier if you are praised, nor the more worthless if you are found fault with. What you are, that you are."

His best-known writing is Imitation of Christ, originally published in Latin in the early 1400's, and now celebrating (roughly) its 600th anniversary of publication. If he lived today, he might be a blogger. 

A Prayer For Fellowship

It has been awhile since I posted a prayer. For a time, prayer was a semi-regular feature here. Before a group gathering, I found myself wanting to pray for fellowship. 

God our Father, you are a Lord who values love. You bless us with "the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit". May your grace,  love, and fellowship fill us and bind us together. Thank you for gathering us together. May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, Lord, my rock and my redeemer.  

 

Best of the Blogroll 2023

I like to welcome the New Year on this blog by a grateful recognition of the posts from the prior year which most enlightened, edified, or uplifted me, from my blog friends and neighbors. Here are the best-loved posts of 2023:  

• At Common Denominator, one of Ken Schenck's "recap" style posts caught my eye with acknowledging the need to bridge the gap between church academics and congregations. 
• At Glory To God For All Things, there is an unfortunately persistent blog malfunction with the permalinked page, but one of my favorite posts there does come up early on the search results for The Way of Shame and the Way of Thanksgiving. In better news, the permalink is more functional for his Thanksgiving reflection on The Communion of Giving Thanks, with its unexpected insight for our understanding of atonement. 
• At Hyperekperissou, Phil Snider continued with a series of book reviews. I find myself intrigued by the "home monastery" idea presented recently as a practical guide to a contemplative life. 
• Michael Kelley at Forward Progress has been on a roll this year. My first favorite (in publication order) was 2 errors when thinking about God's work in our lives. I am more likely to fall into the first error, and hadn't honestly considered it to be a problem. Food for thought. Then he adds some imaginative narrative to help moderns like us understand an old passage of Isaiah about the made-to-order god from the idol shop. Finally, discusses ways to increase our love for God's Word with an eye to the practical, faithful, and humble. 
• Joe Hinman (Metacrock) is always on the front lines with his interactions with atheists. As such, he often meets people whose shield against faith is The Amalekite Problem. Here Joe works to take the conversation beyond "the Amalekites were jerks". 
• The Pocket Scroll drew me in recently with a conversation about Your Own Personal Theologians. 
• Roger Pearse is often my connection to the study of historical documents, given my love of primary sources. He writes on the possible discovery of one of Valentinus' letters among those of Basil of Caesarea. And (for the historically-minded) a fascinating find of another lost manuscript (miscatalogued, really) recovered from the Vatican library about the reign of Julian the Apostate. Unlike many recovered manuscripts, this one is not a mere scrap but weighs in at 16 pages. 
• Reading Acts tends to offer reviews of books I might not otherwise have seen, and the shortlisted favorite book review this year is John Goldingay's Proverbs. It does what I believe should be the main focus of Biblical scholarship: extending and deepening our understanding of the original material. According to Goldingjay, Proverbs seeks to enable people to learn wisdom for a life lived faithfully and in awe of Yahweh -- and so his book adopts the same goal. Topics include the ethical aspect of wisdom, the life-enhancing ability of wisdom, and the work needed to acquire it. 
• At Sun and Shield, Martin LaBar gives a gentle rejoinder for our pessimistic age in The Problem of Good. 

With sincere appreciation for all the Christian bloggers who bring God's light to the online community, thank you for blogging in 2023. All the best for 2024!

Merry Christmas

It's been a rough year. May God's goodness and presence be visible to us all as the neighborhood Christmas lights. 

"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth: peace, goodwill to all!" 

The good news in its Jewish roots: "Here is your God!"

Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John took different approaches to telling the account of Jesus' life. Matthew and Luke start before Jesus' birth; Mark starts when Jesus is an adult; John starts with metaphysics and philosophy. And yet all four place one vital point toward the beginning: 

A voice of one crying in the wilderness, "Prepare the way of the LORD, make his paths straight." Matthew 3:3, Mark 1:3, Luke 3:4, John 1:23 (Isaiah 40:3). 

That famous passage of Isaiah was singled out as a vital part of understanding Jesus by all four of the gospel writers. That passage of Isaiah is not mainly about the messenger that we call John the Baptist preparing the way for the Lord. In Isaiah -- as in the gospels -- we see the forerunner mainly for the forerunner's message: 

You who bring good news to Zion, go up on a high mountain;
You who bring good news to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with a shout: 
Lift it up, have no fear, say to the towns of Judah: "Here is your God!" (Isaiah 40:9)

That "good news" is the basis of  Bible's four gospels. When Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John wrote, much of the Jewish community spoke Greek. Here is that passage (Isaiah 40:9) in the classical Greek Bible used in the Jewish community: 

In Isaiah's translation there, we already see the Greek word that comes to us as "evangelize". Isaiah's message is picked up by John the Baptist, then by the four evangelists, and down through the ages to us. God is here. It is our generation's turn to lift up our voices and have no fear. As St Paul mentions, "How can they believe who have not heard?"