Day 12 Admonition 12

Day 12 Admonition 12 Of Knowing The Spirit Of God.   Thus may the servant of God know if he has the Spirit of God: if when the Lord works some good through him, his body—since it is ever at variance with all that is good—is not therefore puffed up; but if he rather becomes viler in his own sight and if he esteems himself less than other men.   [1] Cod O and Is. read “If therefore his body is puffed up, he has not the Spirit of God. If, however, he becomes rather viler in his own sight, then he truly has the Spirit of God.”

Of Discernment.     King David prayed, and taken from the archaic though poetical Authorised version “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. 11 Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.” Is this the knowing of the Spirit of God that we fear to lose it and to be bereft of consolation even in the Lord’s presence? Francis speaks of the knowledge of the spirit of God as being something detected when we feel vile and worthless in our own eyes. Is the Spirit of God something that ebbs and flows within us according to our self-esteem? Then surely those who lie within the pit of depression have the spirit of God? Cleanliness of heart, a fresh page in our book of life, each day is as a new beginning as when that blessed Spirit first lit upon our mind; First the joy of a swept out and dusted heart and then the knowledge of the Spirit of God, not in our worthlessness but because the Lord so pleased to send us his Spirit.

Robinson, P. 1906,The Writings of Saint Francis of Assisi [1906]   The Online Library of Liberty A Project Of Liberty Fund, Inc.