On Loving God VII: 1 7
On Loving God VII: 1 7 theless, it is not right to keep silent about what has been seen, even if it falls short of the truth. When asking above why and how God is to be loved, I said the question may be understood in two ways: it may mean by what merit of his God deserves our love or what benefit do we acquire in loving him. Both questions it seems may be asked. After speaking of God's merit in a way no doubt unworthy of him, but according to the gift
I have received, it remains for me, to speak of the reward in so far as it also will be given to me.
GOD IS NOT LOVED WITHOUT A REWARD
God is not loved without a reward. although_he_sliauId be loved without regard for one. True charity cannot be worth less, still, as "it does not seek its own advantage,"181 it cannot be termed mercenary.182 Love pertains to the will, it is not a transaction; it cannot acquire or be acquired by a pact. Moving us freely, it makes us spontaneous. True love is content with itself; it has its reward, the object of its love. Whatever you seem to love because of something else, you do not really love; you really love the end pursued and not that by which it is pursued. Paul does not evangelize in order to eat; he eats in order to evangelize; he loves the Gospel and not the food.183
True love merits its reward, it does not seek it. A reward is offered him who does not yet love; it is due him who loves; it is given to him who perseveres. When we have to persuade people in lesser affairs we cajole the unwilling with promises and rewards, not those who are willing. Who would dream of offering a man a reward for doing something he wants to do?
No one, for example, pays a hungry man to eat, a thirsty man to drink, or a mother to feed the child of her womb.184
Who would think of using prayers or prizes to remind a man to fence in his vine, to dig around his tree, or to build his own home? How much more the soul that loves God seeks
181. 1 Cor 13:5.
182. Bernard distinguishes mercenary love from that of the son, and also that of the slave. See below, no. 36, p. 127.
183. 1 Cor 9:18.
184. Is 49:15.
On Loving God VII: 18 no other reward than that God whom it loves. Were the soul to demand anything else, then it would certainly love that other thing and not God.
18. Every rational being naturally desires always what sat isfies more its mind and will. It is never satisfied with some thing which lacks the qualities it thinks it should have. A man with a beautiful wife, for example, looks at a more attractive woman with a wanton eye or heart; a well dressed man wants more costly clothes; and a man of great wealth envies any one richer than he. You can see men who already own many farms and possessions, still busy, day after day, adding one field to another,185 driven by an excessive passion to extend their holdings.186 You can see men living in homes worthy of a king and in sumptuous dwellings, none the less daily adding house to house,187 through restless curiosity building up, then 5° tearing down, changing squares into circles.188 What about men promoted to high honors? Do we not see them striving more and more in an insatiable ambition to go higher still ?
There is no end to all this, because no single one of these riches can be held to be the highest or the best. Why wonder if man cannot be content with what is lower or worse, since he cannot find peace this side of what is highest or best? It is stupidity and madness to want always that which can nei ther satisfy nor even diminish your desire. While enjoying those riches, you strive for what is missing and are dissatis fied, longing for what you lack. Thus the restless mind, run ning to and fro among the pleasures of this life, is tired out but never satisfied; like the starving man who thinks what ever he stuffs down his throat is not enough, for his eyes see what remains to be eaten. Thus man craves continually for what is missing with no less fear than he possesses with joy what is in front of him. Who can have everything? A man clings to the fruits of his work (however small they may be), never knowing when he will have the sorrow of losing them, yet he is certain to lose them some day.189 In like manner a 185. Is 5:8.
188. Horace, Ep 1:1 (100).
189. Cf. I Tim 6:7; Job 1:21.
186. Ex 34:24; Amos 1:13.
187. Is 5:8.
On Loving God VII: 19-20 perverted will contends for what is best, and hastens in a straight line toward what will afford it the most satisfaction.
Rather vanity makes sport of it in those tortuous ways, and evil deceives itself.190 If you wish to accomplish in this way what you desire, to gain hold of that which leaves nothing further to be desired, why bother about the rest? You are running on crooked roads and will die long before you reach the end you are seeking.
19. The wicked, therefore, walk round in circles,191 nat urally wanting whatever will satisfy their desires, yet fool ishly rejecting that which would lead them to their true end,
V which is not in consumption but in consummation. Hence they exhaust themselves in vain instead of perfecting their lives by a blessed end. They take more pleasure in the appear ance of things than in their Creator,192 examining all and want ing to test them one by one before trying to reach the Lord of the universe. They might even succeed in doing so if they could ever gain hold of what they wish for; that is, if any one man could take possession of all things without him who is their Principle. By the very law of man's desire which makes him want what he lacks in place of what he has and grow weary of what he has in preference to what he lacks, once he has obtained and despised all in heaven and on earth,193 he will hasten toward the only one who is missing, the God of all. There he will rest, for just as there is no rest this side of eternity, so there will be no restlessness to bother him on the other side. Then he will say for sure: "It is good for me to adhere to God.''194 He will even add to that: "What is there for me in heaven and what have I desired on earth, if you? "195 And, also: "God of my heart, God, my lot for ever. Therefore, as I said, whoever desires the greatest good can succeed in reaching it, if he can first gain possession of all he desires short of that good itself.
20. This is altogether impossible because life is too short, 190. Ps 26:12.
191. Ps 11:9.
192. Rom 1: 25.
194. Ps 72:28.
195. Ps 72:25.
196. Ps 72:26.
193. Eph 1:10.
On Loving God VII: 21 strength too weak, competition too keen, men too fatigued by the long road and vain efforts; wishing to attain all they desire, yet unable to reach the end of all their wants. If they could only be content with reaching all in thought and not in deed. They could easily do so and it would not be in vain, for man's mind is more comprehensive and subtle than his senses. It even anticipates the senses in all things and they dare not contact an object unless the mind approves its utility beforehand. I think this is what is alluded to in the text:
"Test all and hold on to what is good."197 The mind looks ahead for the senses and these must not pursue their desires unless the mind gives its consent. Otherwise, you do not ascend the Lord's mountain or stand in his holy place,198 because you have received your soul in vain, that is, your rational soul; while you follow your senses like a dumb beast, your sleepy reason offers no resistance. Those who do not think ahead run alongside the road,199 they do not follow the Apostle's counsel: " . . . run, then to win . ..." 2 0 0 When will they reach him whom they do not want to reach until they have tested all the rest? The desire to experience all things first is like a vicious circle, it goes on forever.
21. The just man is not like that. Hearing about the evil conduct of those who remain inside the circle201 (for many follow the wide road which leads to death),202 he prefers the royal road which turns neither to the right nor to the left.203
Finally the Prophet confirms: "The path of the just is straight, and straight forward for walking."204 These are the ones who take a salutary short-cut and avoid the dangerous, fruitless round-about way, choosing the shortened and shortening word,205 not desiring everything they see, but rather selling all they have and giving it to the poor.206 It is clear that "Blessed are the poor, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."207 All run, in deed,208 but one must distinguish between runners. At length,
197. 1 Thess 5:21.
203. Num 20:17;21:22.
204. Is 26:7.
205. Rom 9:28.
206. Mt 19:21 and parallels.
207. Mt 5:3.
198. Ps 23:3-4.
199. Cf. Is 59:8.
200. 1 Cor 9: 24.
201. Ps 30:14.
202. Mt 7:13.
208. 1 Cor 9: 24.
On Loving God VII: 22
"The Lord knows the way of the just, the way of the wickea wm perish."209 As a result, "Better is a little to the just than all the wealth of the wicked."210 As Wisdom says and folly learns, money never satisfies those who love it.211 Rather, ". . . they that hunger and thirst for justice will have their fill."212
Justice is the vital, natural food of the rational soul; money can no more lessen the mind's hunger than air can that of the body. If you see a hungry man open wide his mouth to the wind and puff up his cheeks with air to satisfy his hunger, will you not think he is out of his mind? It is no less folly to think a rational soul will be satisfied rather than merely puffed up by any kind of material goods. What do material things mean to the mind? The body cannot live on ideas or the mind sub sist on meat. "Bless the Lord, my soul, he satisfies your de sires with good things."213 He satisfies with good things, he incites to good, maintains in goodness, anticipates, sustains, fulfills. He makes you desire, he is what you desire.
22. I said above that God is the reason for loving God. That is right, for he is the efficient and final cause of our love. He offers the opportunity, creates the affection, and consummates the desire. He makes, or rather is made himself lovable. He hopes to be so happily loved that he will not be loved in vain.
His love prepares and rewards ours.214 Obligingly he leads the way; reasonably he requites us; he is our sweet hope. Rich for all who call on him,215 although he can give us nothing better than himself. He gave himselt to merit for us; he keeps himself to be our reward; he serves himself as food for holy souls;216 he sold himself in ransom for captive souls.217 O Lord, you are
209. Ps 1:6.
210. Ps 36:16.
211. Cf Eccles 5:9.
212. Mt 5:6.
213. Ps 102:1, 5.
214. Cf. 1 Jn 4:19.
215. Rom 10:12.
216. Wis 3:13.
217. For a fuller understanding of Bernard's doctrine on the Redemption by Christ, see Abael 14-15; PL 182:1064-1065. Vacandard sees in the previous phrase used here, "He gave himself to merit for us. . . ." (se dedit in meritum ) the whole essence of Bernard's doctrine on the Redemption. See E. Vacandard, Vie de saint Bernard, Abbe de Clairvaux, 2 vols. (Paris:Lecoffre, 1895), 2:74. See also, W. Williams, "Introduction" in Select Treatises, pp. 4-5.
On Loving God VII: 23 so good to the soul who seeks you,218 what must you be to the one who finds you? More wonderful still, no one can seek you unless he has already found you. You wish to be found that you may be sought for, and sought for to be found. You may be sought and found, but nobody can forestall you. Even when we say: "In the morning my prayer will come before you,"219 we must remember that, without our first receiving divine inspiration, all prayer becomes lukewarm. Let us now see where our love begins, for it has been shown where it ends.
VIII. 23. Love is one of the faur^natural passions.220 There is no need to name them, for they are well known. It would be right, however, for that which is natural to be first of all at the author of nature's service. That is why the first and greatest commandment is: "You shall love the Lord, your
THE FIRST DEGREE OF LOVE: MAN LOVES HIMSELF FOR
HIS OWN SAKE
Since nature has become more fragile and weak, necessity obliges man to serve it first. This is carnal love by which a man loves himself above all for his own sake. He is only aware of himself; as St Paul says: "What was animal came first, then what was spiritual."222 Love is not imposed by a precept; it is planted in nature. Who is there who hates his own flesh? 223 Yet should love, as it happens, grow immoderate, and, like a savage current, burst the banks of necessity, flooding the fields of delight, the overflow is immediately stopped by the com- -oC-f mandment which says: "You shall love your neighbor as yourvAe* «■*■* self."224 It is just indeed that he who shares the same nature ^
' should not be deprived of the same benefits, especially that 218. Lam 3:25.
219. Ps 87:14.
220. Bernard frequently treats of the four basic passions; see, eg, SC 85:5,-
OB 2:310; CF 40; QH 14:9; OB 4:474; CF 43; Div 50:2; OB 6-1:271; CF 46;
Quad 2:3; OB 4:361; CF 22. These are Classical; see, eg, Juvenal, Satires 1:85-86.
221. Mt 22:37.
222. 1 Cor 15:46.
223. Eph 5:29.
224. Mt 22:39.