Quare magis intendendum est amori diuino quam sciencie uel disputacioni

Quare magis intendendum est amori diuino quam sciencie uel disputacioni

In everything we do or think, we should focus more on divine love than on knowledge or debate. Love delights the soul and makes the conscience sweet, drawing it away from the pleasures of lower delights and the desire for true excellence. Knowledge without love doesn't build up toward eternal salvation, but rather puffs up and leads to miserable destruction. Therefore, let our spirit be strong in taking on hard labors for God; let it be wise in savoring the heavenly, not the secular; let it long to be illuminated by eternal wisdom, and to be set aflame by that sweet fire which stirs one to love and desire only the Creator, and let it be firmly strengthened to despise all transient things. He considers it the greatest comfort to himself that these things do not last, since he does not have a permanent home in this present life, but continually seeks and cries out for the future one that is not made by human hands: "For me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain."^✦ Truly, the one who loves God does not consent to any wicked pleasure. The farther a person is from the love of Christ, the more they indulge in worldly pleasures. So if you love God, your actions show it, because it's never proven that someone truly loves God while being forced to consent to evil desires. Therefore, I dare to announce this to all who are in this exile: all who do not love the Creator of the universe will be cast into endless darkness, and they will feel the fire of hell for eternity, because they refused to be set on fire by the love of the Redeemer here. They will also be separated from the fellowship of the joyful in the love of the Creator and will continually groan, cast out from the joy of those who rejoice in Jesus, lacking the brightness and glory of the crowned ones, because they preferred to linger for a brief time in worldly softness rather than endure penance and trials, so that their sins might be purged and they could arrive full of piety before the protector of good things. They were indeed rejoicing on the slippery and broad path in this valley of tears, where there is no place for joy but only for toil; and therefore, sinners will mourn in torment without any relief. Sinners will weep when the poor are carried off to eternal peace, and they will delight in the pleasures of the life-giving deity, truly seeing the face of Christ, who was lovely in virtues and flourished happily in spiritual fervor, although they never took comfort from the lofty things of this world, nor did they sow pride among the wise and foolish. Instead, they endured the burdens imposed by the wicked and exterminated temptations from the throne of the Trinity so that they might be held in tranquility. Indeed, they have cast off the old age of a poisonous life, praising clearly and with great joy the spiritual beauty, and the games of lightness (which youthful age accepts, and the foolish seculars understand), judging them truly worthy of rejection, thinking continually of a loving song ascending to the Creator. For this reason, those who are capable of the joy of love and who conceive a warmth that cannot be consumed come together in a song of clear harmony and loving melody, and in a friendly sweetness, they possess a heavenly infusion that stands against every heat of lust and desire. From this, in the very heat of the sweetest love, they are drawn to the sight of the beloved, and through the most blissful flame, they flourish in virtue and enjoy the Creator; the mind migrates into melody, transformed yet remaining, and thoughts become harmonious, while the released sorrow of the soul produces a wondrous music that abundantly flows, so that it completely loses the previous punishment and remains sound in a sublime and sonorous state, always modulating beautifully in a honeyed meditation. Then, when they depart from these harsh things and from the anxieties that are stirred up within, the time comes for them to be received without doubt, and they are carried to God without pain and are seated among the seraphim, because they are all aflame with the fire of the most high love and burn ineffably within their souls, so sweetly and devoutly have they loved God that whatever they sensed within themselves was a spiritual fervor, a heavenly melody, and a divine sweetness. Therefore, it is clear that they die without sorrow, but rather, joyfully advancing to such a great height, they are lifted up into eternal honors, and they stand crowned in the most abundant contemplation of the Creator, singing together with the brightest choirs, who also ardently long for the very essence that rules over all. And indeed, although they now see so clearly in the face of truth and are undoubtedly captivated by the sweetest delight of divinity, after a little while they will be even more amazed when the bodies of the saints, which are held on earth for a time, are raised from the graves and their souls are united with them in the final examination. Indeed, then they will perceive authority among the nations and will judge all people so that they may be condemned, and they will show that the good were only mediocre in attaining blessedness. Moreover, in the general judgment, they will be filled with continuous joy and will ascend with Christ to the heights of glory, enjoying the face of God without end. From these, it is clear that the sweetness of eternal things fills those minds. Love intoxicates the soul with a bond of charity that cannot be broken. Therefore, let us strive to be kindled by the love of Christ more than to engage in useless arguments. While we focus excessively on investigation, we fail to sense the sweetness of eternal delight. Therefore, many are caught up in such a blaze of knowledge, not in the fervor of love, that they completely ignore what love is or what its flavor might be. Since all their study should be directed toward this end, that they may be able to burn with divine love. Oh, what a shame! A person experiences more about God's love and less about the pleasures of the world than a theologian whose study is empty, because he studies for the sake of vanity, wanting to be known and appear glorious, so that he may gain status and honors, while the fool who is uneducated deserves to be regarded as such.