How a desolate man ought to commit himself into the hands of God explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• Contempt for the World

  The soul rejects worldly praise and esteem, recognizing that only God's judgment matters.

• Suffering and the Cross

  Suffering is embraced as a loving discipline from God, a means of purification and growth.

• Grace and Divine Dependence

  The soul acknowledges that all good comes from God and that it cannot run in His commandments without His comfort.

Characters to notice

• God the Father

  Addressed as 'O Lord God, Holy Father' and 'O beloved Father'; the soul commits itself to His hands and accepts His correction.

• The Disciple

  The speaker who confesses his poverty, sorrow, and need for God's peace, and submits to divine discipline.

• Jesus Christ

  Implied as the one through whom the soul seeks consolation and the pattern of suffering for love.

• St. Francis

  Quoted: 'What each one is in Thine eyes, so much he is, and no more.'

Key passages

• “I am poor and in misery even from my youth up, and my soul is sorrowful unto tears, sometimes also it is disquieted within itself, because of the sufferings which are coming upon it.”

  I have been poor and afflicted since my youth; my soul is often sorrowful and troubled by the sufferings that approach me.

  The disciple confesses his lifelong poverty and inner turmoil.

• “It is good for me, Lord, that I had been in trouble, that I may learn Thy statutes, and may cast away all pride of heart and presumption.”

  Lord, it is good that I have suffered, because through trouble I learn Your laws and abandon pride and self-reliance.

  Suffering is seen as a teacher that humbles and instructs.

• “What each one is in Thine eyes, so much he is, and no more.”

  A person's true worth is only what God sees them to be, nothing more.

  Quoting St. Francis to emphasize that human praise is meaningless.