John Tauler · 72 of 121
The third way of a poor, perfect life, when you contemplate God internally, is, that a man do not fly from what may kill him in spiritual things. · 59.
Now this is so, because man hath cast himself through sins into the hatred of God, and this hatred must be rooted out by the hatred of creatures. Whoso is most hated in his of sins, to him will his sins be most surely forgiven; and in proportion as man seeketh the love of creatures he departeth from the divine love, for creaturely love and godly love cannot subsist together. Thus he who is hated by the creature in a natural way is loved by God in a spiritual way; for no truly poor man is ever loved by any creature in a natural way, nor doth he love any one by nature; this is because he dieth continually to his nature, in him and in other men, and hence no one findeth anything to love in him naturally. For it is meet and lit that natural men who live devoted to their bodily nature should always hate him. For like loveth its like; therefore he who wisheth that he should never be loved unrightly, should take heed that he always die to his nature, in him and in other men, for what then is loved in him is God. And whoso is loved by natural men, that is a sign that he is not yet dead to his nature. For what natural men love is the luxury of nature, and when they do not find that, they do not love. It is therefore a good sign that a man rejoice when he is hated, for this no sinner can feel. He should give up all likeness with natural love, then divine love is alway his object, and he is only loved through divine love. For no one loveth another save when he findeth some likeness to himself in him, both by nature and ; hence, when the likeness of nature is quite gone, there remaineth only the likeness of grace; and hence, whoso dieth to all likeness of nature, his flow or efflux is divine love, and his influx or ebb is also divine love. It happens thus that men not dead to themselves often love by nature, weening it is by grace, and when they are blamed for this, they are troubled and wax wrath; by this they should know that their love is natural. For right divine love is at all times patient, and suffereth all things; it letteth itself quite well be hated, but it hateth no one, and construeth all things for the best; but men not dead to themselves are always agitated in contradiction, and distracted from their peace.
