The Mind’s Ascent to God by a Ladder of Created ThingsSecond step. CONSIDERATION OF THE GREATER WORLD

We have made the first step in our ladder of ascension to God to consist in the consideration of man, which is called the lesser world: now it is our purpose to raise above it a second step from consideration of that huge mass which we commonly call the greater world. Saint Gregory Nazianzus indeed writes in his second discourse on Easter, that God placed men, as it were, a great world within a less, which is true, if we consider the angels apart from the world; for man, considered as part of the universe, is greater than the whole world of bodies, not in size but in power: but if the angels are included in the world, as here we understand it, then man is a little world placed within a greater world. Now in the great world which comprises the sum total of things, there are many most wonderful qualities, but notably these —greatness, multitude, variety, efficiency, and beauty. If we consider all these matters attentively in the light which God gives us, they will have great power to raise our soul so that we shall, as it were, faint in admiration of them, and then, returning to ourselves, we shall look upon everything outside God as naught, and shall consider it worthless.

The earth certainly is large, very large, as the wise

man says, ‘Who can find out the height of heaven, and the breadth of the earth, and the deep?’! And its greatness may also be understood from the fact that in so many thousand years that have passed since the beginning of the world, the whole surface of the earth (and this is what the wise man calls the breadth) has not yet become known to us men, even to those who - carefully explore it. And if I ask what is the size of the earth compared with the circuit of the highest heaven, astronomers answer, and not inaptly, ‘No more than a point.’ For we see that the rays of the sun reach out to the stars at the opposite end of the firmament as though no earth existed, though indeed it lies in the midst. And if it be, as is the general opinion of learned men, that every star in the firmament is larger than the whole globe of the earth, and yet these stars appear to be very small indeed on account of the enormous distance, who can conceive the extent of the sky in which so many thousand stars are shining? If then, in regard to the surface and the depth of the earth, the wise man said, ‘The breadth of the earth and the depth of the abyss who can measure’ what would he say of the exterior surface of the sky and of the depth of the whole world from the highest part of the heavens to the lowest hell? So very great is the bulk of this corporeal world, that no mind, no thought, can grasp it. Well then, my soul, seeing that the world is so great, how great is he that made it? ‘Great is the Lord, and there is no end of his greatness.’ Hear Isaiah, ‘Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure ?’3 ‘Thus Saint Jerome, following the version of Aquila, says4 that by the word pugillum is to be understood the little finger, so that the meaning is: That the mass of the waters which is less than the earth, is measured by one little finger of God, the mass of the earth by three fingers, and the heaven, which is greater than the earth and the waters taken together, is weighed by the palm. And these expressions are indeed used metaphorically, for God is Spirit, and, strictly speaking, hath neither fingers nor palm: but the Scripture by comparisons shows very clearly that God is far greater than his creatures, a fact which Solomon points out when he says, ‘Heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee.’! And this is plainly true, for if another world were created, God would replenish it also, and if there were many worlds, or even if there were an infinite number of worlds, God would fill them all. And think not, my soul, that thy God doth so fill the world, that part ‘of him is in a certain portion of the world and the whole God is in the whole world. For God is without parts, and is whole in the whole world, and whole in every portion of it, and so he is present everywhere in his omnipotence and wisdom. Therefore if thou wilt be faithful to him, let not thine heart be afraid even though an army be against thee, for why should a man fear who hath with him the Almighty Father, Friend and Spouse, all-seeing and most affectionately loving him? But if by reason of thy sins thou hast become blameworthy, thou hast for thy judge an angry God, an all-powerful enemy, beholding all things, and hating sins with an implacable hatred: then indeed thou dost well to be horribly afraid, and thou oughtest to give rest neither to thine eyes nor to thy feet, until by hearty repentance thou hast appeased thy God, and till thou breathe once more in the light of his compassion.

Now who shall count the number of things created by one God the Maker of heaven and earth? ‘Who can number the sand of the sea and the drops of rain ?’ - saith the wise man.!

But setting aside these very small things, how many metals are there, gold and silver, brass and lead, precious stones, gems, and pearls, both in the earth and in the sea? On the earth how many genera, species, and kinds of herbs, fruits, and plants, and how many parts in each? What is the number of genera, species, and kinds of animals, perfect and imperfect, quadrupeds, reptiles, birds: how many genera, species, and kinds of fishes in the sea? Who can count them? What of the races of men, of whom it is written, “The increase of man is according to thy secret counsel’ ?2

Finally, ask how many stars there are in the sky? Concerning the stars we read in the Scriptures, which we know to be true, ‘Tell the stars if thou canst number them.’3 And elsewhere it compares the number of the stars with the sand of the sea. ‘As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured,’4 which is as much as to say they are countless. And of the angels Daniel writes, ‘Thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him.’ 5 And Saint Thomas, agreeing with Dionysius, affirms that the number of angels is so great that it surpasses the multitude of material things.¹

Thus the multitude of things which is wellnigh infinite, created by one omnipotent God, shows that in the Divine Essence itself the perfections are altogether infinite. For God willed that man should in some measure know him through his creatures, and because no single created being could fitly represent the infinite perfection of the Creator, he multiplied creatures, and bestowed on each a certain degree of goodness and perfection, that from these we might form some idea of the goodness and perfection of the Creator, who in one most simple and perfect essence contains infinite perfections, somewhat after the manner in which a gold coin contains. the value of many copper coins,

Therefore, my soul, whenever thy sight or thy mind is arrested by anything which seems worthy of admiration, let that thing become a ladder by which thou risest to the knowledge of the perfection of thy Maker, which without doubt is far more great and wonderful. So will it come to pass, that created things, which, as Solomon teaches, are ‘a snare to the feet of the unwise,’! will not deceive thee, but will instruct thee and will not be the occasion of thy fall, but will form a step towards a better state. And so if thou meet with gold, or silver, or precious stones, say in thine heart: My God is more precious, and he hath promised to give himself to me, if I will despise these things. If kingdoms and earthly governments strike thee with wonder, say in thine heart: How much more splendid is the kingdom of heaven which abideth for ever, and which God, who cannot lie, hath promised to them that love him! If pleasures and delights begin to excite thy senses, say in thine heart: Spiritual delight is far more lovely than carnal delight, and delights of the mind are far more desirable than those of the body, for the latter are offered to us by a mortal creature, the former by the God of all consolation, and he who tasteth these can say with the Apostle, ‘I am filled with comfort, I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation.’: And lastly, if something beautiful, new, unusual, great, or wonderful presents itself to thee in such a way as to withdraw thy heart from the Lord thy God, answer firmly, that though there be good in these things, yet far more and far better are certainly to be found in thy ' Lord; and it is not for thy profit to change gold for brass, and jewels for glass, great things for small, certainty for doubt, eternal things for temporal.

But although the multitude of created things is wonderful, and a proof of the multiform perfection of the one God, still more wonderful is the variety which appears in that multiplication, and it leads us more easily to the knowledge of God; for it is not difficult with one seal to make many impressions exactly alike, or to cast numberless letters in the same mould, but to vary shapes almost infinitely, which is what God has done in creation, this is in truth a divine work and most worthy of admiration. I pass by genera and species, which every one agrees are exceeding various and diverse: in the separate forms of herbs, plants, flowers, and fruits what a great variety there is! Shapes, colours, scent, taste, do not these vary almost infinitely? . But what shall I say of mankind; when in a large army, consisting of an immense number of men, scarcely two are found exactly alike? It is the same with the stars and the angels; for ‘one star differeth from another star in glory,’ as the Apostle testifies,2 and Saint Thomas affirms that although the

1 2 Cor. vii. 4. a 1 Cor. xv. 41.

angels are more in number than corporeal beings, yet all are not only separate, but that all differ in their particular form.

Raise now, my soul, the eye of thy mind towards God in whom are the ideas of all things, and from whom, as from an inexhaustible fountain, this wellnigh infinite variety springs: for God could not have impressed those numberless forms on created things unless in a most eminent and exalted mode he had kept their ideas or patterns in the depth of his own Being. Therefore well does the Apostle exclaim, ‘O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God !’2 For truly fathomless must be the depth of that well, in which lie hidden the treasures of riches, of wisdom, of knowledge, able to produce such an infinite variety of things.

Well also did Saint Francis, when illuminated by the divine light, say unto the Lord, ‘My God and my all,’ because the various good things which are rarely found distributed among created things are found in altogether a higher and better way united in one God.

But, my soul, thou mayst say, it may be that what you affirm be true, but the goodness of created things we see with our eyes, touch with our hands, taste with our mouths, we truly possess and enjoy: God we do not see, nor do we touch, nor taste, nor possess, and scarcely by thought can we apprehend him as we apprehend a thing placed at a great distance: and so it is not to be wondered at, if created things affect us more than God affects us. But, my soul, if thy faith is living and alert, thou must allow that after this life, which fleeth as a shadow, provided thou continue in faith and hope and love, thou shalt behold God himself, truly and clearly as he is in himself, and thou shalt possess him, and thou wilt enjoy him far better and more intimately than now thou art enjoying created things. Hear the Lord himself, ‘Blessed are the _ pure in heart, for they shall see God.’! Listen to the Apostle Paul, ‘Now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face.”2 Hear also Saint John, ‘We shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.'

Next I ask thee, what portion of this world belongs to thee? Certainly not the whole world, nor a half, ' nor a third, nor a fourth part; but a certain very small portion, in a degree, pertains to thee and that after a short time, whether thou wilt or no, thou wilt be compelled to quit. But thou wilt wholly possess God, in whom are all things, and shalt possess him for ever: for to the saints and blessed ones God will be all in all without end. He will be thy life, thy food, thy raiment, thy home, thine honour, thy riches, thy delight, and thine all. Add to which, this God of thine, tender and gentle, doth not command thee while thou art a pilgrim on this earth to put away from thee altogether all consolation from creatures; rather it was in order that they might be of service to thee, that all things were fashioned. But this he doth command, that thou use them moderately, temperately, and with sobriety, and that thou cheerfully share them with those in need, that the creatures do not rule over thee, but thou over them, and that thou use them in such a manner as to find favour with God.

Consider therefore, earnestly, which is the more profitable: to have in this life such created things as are necessary, and in the next life to enjoy thy Creator himself, in whom, as I have repeatedly said, are all things, and that for ever and ever; or in this life to be eagerly labouring for the possession of temporal things and yet never to be satisfied, and at last to be suddenly bereft of all temporal goods and fall short of attaining to the eternal good things of eternity?

Lastly, add this, that God is not so far away from his beloved ones but he bestows upon them, even in this life, great consolations, greater than the lovers of this world find in things created. Truly is it written, “JI remembered God and rejoiced’;! and, ‘Rejoice the soul of thy lear for unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.’ And leaving out other passages, when the Apostle says, ‘I am filled with comfort, I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation,’3 he surely does not mean, that of tribulation is produced consolation, and of sorrow joy, for thorns cannot bring forth grapes, nor can thistles bring forth figs; but he means that God bestows upon his friends such pure and clean solid consolations to soothe their griefs, that temporal joys are in no way to be compared with them. Let this then, O my soul, be thy firm conviction: he who finds God finds all things; he who loses God loses all things.

We go on now to see how, by considering the power which God has bestowed upon created things, we may rise up to understand the infinite power of the Creator. There is nothing which is without a certain marvellous power, or force, or efficacy. If a lump of earth or a stone fall from a height, by the very force of its motion it works destruction, and anything resisting it is broken to pieces. When the Holy Spirit would describe in the Apocalypse the tremendous force with which Babylon the Great, that is the whole company of the wicked, will be cast down into the depth of the abyss in the day of judgement, he tells us, ‘And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great mill-stone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.’

And water, which is smooth and soft, flows gently over the face of the earth, but when it is raging and foaming in rivers or torrents, it lays low and destroys everything in its path, not only cottages of the peasantry, but even gates, and walls of cities, and marble bridges we have seen demolished by it. The winds, which are sometimes calm, and blow gently, may drive great ships on to rocks and uproot and overturn old oaks. I myself have seen a thing which I should not believe had I not seen it, an immense heap of earth cast up by a very strong wind, and the same heap carried to a certain village so that in the place where the earth had been cast up, there remained only an immense pit, and the whole village on which the earth fell was covered and, as it were, buried.

What shall we say about fire? How swiftly does a small fire become a flame great enough to bring houses and woods in a moment to nothing! ‘Behold,’ saith Saint James, “how great a matter [wood, margin A.v.] a little fire kindleth.’ 2

How many virtues do herbs contain! In stones, and particularly in the loadstone and in amber, what wonderful powers do we perceive! Then in the animal world, we see some creatures very strong, as the lion, bear, bull, elephant; others very clever, though very small, like the ant, the spider, the bee, the fly. I do not now speak of the power of the angels, the virtue of sun and stars, which are far distant from us, but come to consider the wit of man, by which so many arts have been invented, that we are often in doubt whether nature yields the palm to art, or art to nature.

Now, O soul, lift up the eyes of thy mind to God, and think what great power, force, and strength is in the Lord thy God, whom the Scripture most rightly addresses thus: ‘Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the mighty ones ?.’ § and, ‘Who only doeth marvellous things,’? and, ‘The blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords.’3 For whatsoever strength created things possess, they derive from God, and they enjoy it as long as God pleases they should have it. For who but God caused that Jonah, shut up in the whale’s belly, should have no hurt from the waves of the sea, or the teeth of the whale? Who but God shut the mouths of the hungry lions that they should not touch Daniel? Who but God preserved unhurt the Three Children in the burning furnace? Who said unto the stormy wind and to the raging sea, “Peace be still,’ and immediately there was a great calm, who but Christ, the true God?

Now God derives not his strength and power from another, but his will is his power, and a power which none can withstand. He possesses always infinite power, and in comparison with it, all power of men is not merely small and mean, but it is altogether nothing: for thus saith Isaiah, ‘All nations before. him are as nothing; and they are accounted unto him less than nothing, and vanity.’ 4

Are they not therefore foolish who fear created things and fear not God Almighty, and who trust in their own power or in that of their friends and not in God Almighty? ‘If God be for us, who can be against us ?’5 and if God be against us who shall be for us? Wherefore my soul, if thou be wise, ‘Humble thyself under the mighty hand of God.’ Cling to him with true devotion and thou shalt not need to fear what man or devil or any creature can do unto thee. But if perchance thou fallest from devotion, and provokest thy God to anger, give thyself no rest until thou be at peace with him, for ‘it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.’

It remains for us to consider the beauty of created things, of which the prophet saith, ‘For thou, Lord, hast made me glad through thy works’; 2 and indeed as all things that God hath made are good, so also will they be found beautiful, if they be rightly regarded. But leaving other things aside, we will consider those things which the opinion and judgement of all men allow to be beautiful. In truth, great is the beauty of a green field, of a well-kept garden, of a pleasant wood, of a calm sea, of serene air, of springs, of rivers, of cities, of the glittering heavens bedecked with countless stars shining like jewels. Then how delightful the beauty of a tree clothed with flowers, or laden with fruit, the forms of various four-footed creatures, the flight of birds, the play of fishes! What shall I say of the beauty of the stars and of the moon, and still more of that very great and notable splendour of the sun, which at its rising animates the whole earth?

But nothing delights men more than the beauty of their own form, and it is to men that we are particularly speaking. We have often seen and grieved over, intelligent men, enamoured of the beauty of women, and on the other hand, grave and honourable women led to foolishness by reason of the beauty of men, so that they put home, honour, children, and parents, life itself, and I might even say their eternal salvation, second to their love of beauty in men. These are plain facts read in Holy Scripture in regard to David, Solomon, and Samson, and history is full of like examples.

Now my soul, if such beauty has been bestowed upon creatures by God, their Creator, how great and how marvellous must be the beauty of the Creator himself, the All-beautiful! For no one can give to another what he does not possess, and if men were so charmed with the form of the sun and stars, that they mistook those luminous bodies for gods, Wisdom saith, ‘Let them know how much better the Lord of them is, for the first author of beauty hath created them.’³ But the greatness of the beauty of God is learnt not only from the fact that the beauty of all creatures is found gathered together in a far higher degree in him, but also from this, that though he is invisible to us and only known by our belief in the Scriptures, and in the mirror of created things, so long as we are wandering apart from him, yet many of the saints have been so ardent in their love of him that some even hid themselves in desert places and gave themselves up to the contemplation of him alone: such were Saint Mary Magdalene, Paul the first hermit, Anthony the Great, and others without number, concerning whom Theodoret’s religious history may be consulted; others, leaving wives and children and whatever possessions they had in the world, chose to live in monasteries, subject to the will of others, that they might enjoy the friendship of God; others again desired to spend their life freely in sharp pain, that they might be worthy to attain to the vision of his infinite beauty. Hear one of these, the holy martyr Ignatius, in his letter to the Romans: ‘Come fire and cross and conflicts with wild beasts, wrenching of bones, mangling of limbs, crushing of the body; come grievous torments of the devil upon me—only may they aid me in attaining unto Jesus Christ.’ 2

If then the divine beauty, not yet seen, but only believed and hoped for, stirreth up such a great fire of longing, what will it do when the veil is removed, and it shall be seen as it is in itself? This will happen, that, drinking of his pleasures as out of a river,! we shall neither wish to, nor shall we be able to, turn our eyes away from it for one moment. And - is it any wonder that to angels and blessed spirits, who always behold the face of the Father who is in heaven, the vision brings neither weariness nor satiety, since God himself, always beholding his own beauty, hath been eternally satisfied with it? And as if into a wine cellar and into a garden of all manner of delights, a man shall enter, and never thence depart, for all eternity.

Seek then this beauty, O my soul, sigh after it day and night: say with the prophet, ‘My soul is athirst for God, when shall I come to appear before the living God?’ Say with the Apostle, ‘We are confident and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.’ 3

And fear not defilement from the fervent love of that beauty; for the love of divine beauty does not enfeeble the heart, but perfects it, sanctifies and does not injure it. The holy virgin and martyr Agnes truly said, *I love Christ, whose Mother is a virgin, whose Father knew not woman; when I love him | am chaste, when I touch him I am pure, when I receive him I am a virgin.’ 4

But if thou desirest indeed the uncreated beauty of thy Lord, it behoves thee to fulfil what the Apostle subjoins: ‘Wherefore,’ saith he, “we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.’5 If God is pleasing to thee, thou oughtest to be pleasing to God. And indeed in the land of the living, when we shall be in his presence, enlightened with his brightness, without doubt we shall be pleasing to God, as the prophet says, ‘I will please God in the land of the living’;! but in this pilgrimage we so easily become smirched and stained by the mire of sin; as the Apostle James saith, ‘In many things we offend all’; 2 and the prophet David, to show how few are undefiled in the way, pronounced a beatitude on the attainment of that state, ‘Blessed are those that are undefiled in the way.’3 |

Therefore, O soul, if while absent from thy beloved and on thy pilgrimage, thou art desirous of pleasing him, it is not enough to wish to please him, but thou must, as the Apostle says, strive to please him, that is, with earnest care labour to avoid stains which are a blemish on the soul, and if any should cling to it, with no less zeal and labour to wipe them away. Do but see the young women who desire to please their husbands, how many hours they spend in arranging their hair, in powdering their faces, and removing every trace of stain from their clothes that they may give pleasure to the eye of a mortal man, who must shortly be turned to dust and ashes. What therefore shouldst thou do to please the eye of thine immortal spouse, who is always beholding thee, and who desires to find thee without spot or wrinkle? Certainly it is necessary for thee to strive with all thy might, ‘to walk in holiness and righteousness before him,’ 4 and carefully to remove everything which hinders true holiness and righteousness, and cut it off: nor to have regard to flesh and blood, nor to heed the words or judgement of men: for thou canst not at the same time please God and the world: as the Apostle saith, ‘If thou wilt please men thou art not the servant of Christ.’ 5