Chapter 7:
Maxims of Peace of Heart


Maxim 7:1
Live in peace and inner tranquility.
Show this by acting without rush
or too great eagerness.
Suffer what you have to suffer peacefully,
in perfect tranquility of spirit in God,


Maxim 7:2
In order to acquire this peace and serenity of spirit,
  • live in perfect purity of heart;
  • do not cling to anything created;
  • struggle constantly to calm the unruly impulses of your passions;
  • live without desire, without fixed plans, wholly surrendered to God and to the guidance of your superiors.

 

Maxim 7:3
No matter what disagreeable things happen to you,
Never see them as obstacles
but as profitable and necessary
to your daily life.
If you consider them as effects of the tender and loving
providence of God, your Father,
you will love them tenderly and
accept them willingly.


Maxim 7:4
Do not be involved in too many things at once.
If through obedience or some necessity of your work
you have numerous things to attend to,
never be eager to finish some so that
you can go on to others.
Such haste
  • disturbs peace of heart
  • causes forgetfulness of God's presence;
  • shows clearly that there is much of self mingled with the inspirations of grace.
  • shows also that nature may hinder rather than help the effects that grace would bring about in us and through us.
These would be in greater perfection and without danger to health and devotion
if only we would let grace act with its ordinary gentleness.


Maxim 7:5
Anyone who knows how to let God act in and through him/her
without too much interference on his/her part
does many things in a short time and never loses peace of heart.