Greco-Christian stream·The Imitation of Christ·Book III — On Inward Consolation·Chapter XLII. That Our Peace Is Not To Be Placed In Men
XLII. Peace not to be placed in men
Non est ponenda fiducia tua in homine. The friend who is dearest to us is still mortal and changeable; only God is unchanging. To place one's peace in another human being is to place it on a foundation that must eventually shift.
Source context
- Theme
- the soul's reorientation away from human approval toward interior divine peace
- Soul-faculty
- Consciousness Soul
Steiner
not engaged in the GA corpus
Cross-tradition
- Stoic philosophy (Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius)Stoic teaching distinguishes sharply between what lies within human power and what does not, locating authentic peace in inner assent rather than in the opinions or conduct of others — a structural parallel to this chapter's injunction against grounding peace in men.
- Vedanta (Bhagavad Gita, nishkama karma)The Gita's counsel to act without attachment to human outcomes or praise carries a cross-tradition congruence with the Imitation's warning that dependence on human judgment distorts the soul's orientation toward the divine.
- Sufi doctrine (fana, annihilation of self before God)Sufi accounts of the stage in which the aspirant must relinquish reliance on created beings — including human teachers — in order to stand before the divine alone display structural congruence with this chapter's insistence on interior, God-grounded peace.
Chapter XLII. That Our Peace Is Not To Be Placed In Men
THAT OUR PEACE IS NOT TO BE PLACED IN MEN
"My Son, if thou set thy peace on any person because thou hast high opinion of him, and art familiar with him, thou shalt be unstable and entangled. But if thou betake thyself to the ever-living and abiding Truth, the desertion or death of a friend shall not make thee sad. In Me ought the love of thy friend to subsist, and for My sake is every one to be loved, whosoever he be, who appeareth to thee good, and is very dear to thee in this life. Without Me friendship hath no strength or endurance, neither is that love true and pure, which I unite not. Thou oughtest to be so dead to such affections of beloved friends, that as far as in thee lieth, thou wouldst rather choose to be without any companionship of men. The nearer a man approacheth to God, the further he recedeth from all earthly solace. The deeper also he descendeth into himself, and the viler he appeareth in his own eyes, the higher he ascendeth towards God.
2"But he who attributeth anything good to himself, hindereth the grace of God from coming to him, because the grace of the Holy Ghost ever seeketh the humble heart. If thou couldst make thyself utterly nothing, and empty thyself of the love of every creature, then should it be My part to overflow unto thee with great grace. When thou settest thine eyes upon creatures, the face of the Creator is withdrawn from thee. Learn in all things to conquer thyself for thy Creator's sake, then shalt thou be able to attain unto divine knowledge. How small soever anything be, if it be loved and regarded inordinately, it holdeth us back from the highest good, and corrupteth."