The six and fourty chapitre. A good teching how a man schal flee thees disseites, and wirche more with a listines of spirite then with any boistousnes of body.
Work with Light Willingness, Not Crude Force
The author warns against rough physical straining in contemplative prayer, urging instead a light and humble willingness, and cautioning that beastly roughness leads to spiritual harm.
And therefore, for the love of God, be careful in this work, and don't strain your heart too roughly or beyond measure; but work more with a light willingness than with any crude force.1 For always, the more lightly you work, the more humbly and spiritually; and always, the more roughly, the more bodily and beastly. And therefore be careful. For surely, whatever beastly heart presumes to touch the high mountain of this work will be beaten away with stones. Stones are hard and dry by nature, and they hurt badly wherever they strike. And surely such rough strainings are firmly fixed in the fleshliness of bodily feeling, and completely dry of any wetting of grace; and they hurt the poor soul terribly, and make it fester in fantasies invented by fiends.2 And therefore beware of this beastly roughness, and teach yourself to love with a light willingness, with a soft and quiet bearing, in body as well as in soul. And wait courteously and humbly for our Lord's will, and don't snatch too hastily, like a greedy greyhound, no matter how hungry you may be.3
The Father's Playful Embrace
The author playfully advises restraining eager spiritual desire as if hiding it from God, then affirms that those who practice this will experience God's playful and loving embrace like a father with his child.
I say this playfully: I advise you to do what you can, restraining the rough and violent stirrings of your spirit—just as you wouldn't want Him to know how eagerly you'd like to see Him, have Him, or feel Him.4 This is spoken in a childish and playful way, you might think. But I believe that anyone who had the grace to do and feel as I describe would feel God playfully playing with him, as a father does with his child, kissing and embracing him—and how well it would go for him then.5
Read the original Middle English
And therfore for Goddes love bewar in this werk, and streyne not thin hert in thi brest over-rudely, ne oute of mesure; bot wirche more with a list then with any lither strengthe. For ever the more listly, the more meekly and goostly; and ever the more rudely, the more bodely and beestly. And therfore bewar. For sekirly what beestly herte that presumith for to touche the highe mounte of this werke, it schal be betyn awey with stones. Stones ben harde and drie in her kynde, and thei hurte ful sore where thei hit. And sekirly soche rude streynynges ben ful harde fastnid in fleschlines of bodely felyng, and ful drie fro any wetyng of grace; and thei hurte ful sore the sely soule, and make it feestre in fantasie feinid of feendes. And therfore bewar with this beestly ruednes, and leerne thee to love listely with a softe and a demure contenaunce, as wel in body as in soule. And abide curtesly and meekly the wil of oure Lorde, and lache not over-hastely, as it were a gredy grehounde, hungre thee never so sore.
And gamenly be it seyde, I rede that thu do that in thee is, refreynyng the rude and the grete steryng of thi spirite; ryght as thou on no wyse woldest lat Hym wite hou fayne thou woldest see Hym and have Hym or fele Hym.
This is childly and pleyingly spoken, thee think, paraventure. Bot I trowe whoso had grace to do and fele as I sey, he schuld fele God gamesumli pley with hym, as the fadir doth with the childe, kyssyng and clippyng, that weel were him so.
Notes
- 1 ↩ME list here means glad readiness or lightness of spirit (as in the chapter's "listiness of spirit"), set against forced bodily effort; lither strengthe is base/crude force, not merely physical strength.
- 2 ↩wetyng of grace keeps the source metaphor of grace as moisture that softens what is otherwise hard and dry; sely soule is the poor/hapless soul, not "silly" in the modern sense.
- 3 ↩lache means to snatch or seize; the greyhound image warns against greedy haste in contemplation, not against desire itself.
- 4 ↩ME gamenly = playfully / in jest; the next section confirms this counsel is meant as childlike play with God.
- 5 ↩ME 'that weel were him so' is the idiom of blessed well-being ('it would be well for him thus'); rendered as an exclamatory result rather than a flat purpose clause.
The Cloud of Unknowing companion
A daily portion of stillness
Chosen Portion delivers one short contemplative reading and a guided moment of silence each day — the ascent, one step at a time.
Chosen Portion is the paced doorway into this collection: it portions the dense mystical treatises into one daily reading plus guided silence, exactly as the 14-day plan teaches.
- Daily bite-sized excerpts from the contemplative classics, never a wall of text
- A built-in timed stillness practice that grows from 2 minutes to 10
- Gentle progression through the tradition — the app remembers where you are on the ascent