Book 3, Chapter 16. True Solace is to Sought in God Alone.
Chapter Focus: Solace: sä-ləs. Noun: comfort in grief – the alleviation of grief or anxiety.
Verb: to give comfort to in grief or misfortune: CONSOLE.
What does solace make you think of? A favorite blanket, or hot soup? Perhaps you see yourself unwinding on a beach, or crying on the shoulder of a friend. Comfort brings refreshment and we are renewed by our ability to rest and sink into being alive, letting our grief flow or our misfortune complete its course.
Solace is like that but goes further because it is the comfort provided to us when we are unnerved or upset or in mourning. The two words go together. When we are comforted by a friend while in mourning, we may simply go limp in the arms of our comforter and let out the pent up anxiousness and sadness through sobs and tears. I did so at the death of one of my brothers. I was fine up to a point but then, in the arms of the right person who I knew would share my grief, was able to unload and share that grief. This is what Thomas is getting at in Chapter 16.
In our mission as Christians, as we separate ourselves from the worldly comforts, even missing friends who are not on the same journey as us, we can mourn them and rely on God’s holy comfort and solace.
Back to the beach, we want it all sometimes. But even when we have “it” we may not be satisfied. Thomas tells us that our satisfaction is not in an “it” but in a “Him”: Jesus. When we have Jesus always and everywhere, we can find both solace and comfort. Isn’t that a comforting thought?
Chapter 16, In Short.
1. You can only be fully comforted and perfectly refreshed in God, the Comforter.
2. Even if you had all the good things ever created, you still could not be happy.
Scripture Memory Prayer: “But our citizenship is in Heaven, and from it we also await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Phil 3:20)
Question: For what purpose were you created?
Key Quote: Be with me, Lord Jesus, always and everywhere.
The Text of Chapter 16: True Solace is to be Sought in God Alone.
Whatever I can desire or think of for my solace, I do not look for it here in this life, but in the hereafter. For if I had all the comforts of this world, and were able to enjoy all its delights, it is certain that these comforts could not last long. Therefore, O my soul, you can only be fully comforted and perfectly refreshed in God, the Comforter of the poor, and the Receiver of the humble.
O my soul, in a little while expect to wait for the Divine promise, and you will have an abundance of good things in heaven. If you long inordinately for current things, you will lose sight of those things which are eternal and heavenly. Let temporal things be useful to you, and eternal things are in what you desire. You cannot be satisfied with any temporal good, because you were not created for the enjoyment of such things.
2. Even if you had all the good things ever created, you still could not be happy and blessed. All your blessedness and all your happiness lies in God who created all things. We are not talking about such happiness as that which seems good to the foolish lover of the world, but rather that which Christ’s good and faithful servants wait for, and as the spiritual and pure in heart sometimes taste, whose conversation is in Heaven (Phil 3:20).
All human comfort is empty and short-lived. Blessed and true is that comfort which is felt inwardly, springing from the truth. The devout disciple carries about his own Comforter everywhere, Jesus, and says to Him: “Be with me, Lord Jesus, always and everywhere. Let it be my comfort: to be able to cheerfully give up all human comfort. And if Your consolation fails me, let Your will and righteous approval be with me always for the highest comfort.”
“You will not always be accusing, nor nursing lasting anger.”(Ps 103:9)