John Tauler · 88 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. · 75.

It might again be said, If good people always have joy what is then their suffering? for suffering and joy cannot subsist together. I reply, Man is made up of body and soul, and each hath its separate work. But when the body rejoiceth in temporal things and sins, the spirit sorroweth, and sinners have this joy and sadness. Again, when the spirit rejoiceth in God, the body sorroweth in time, and this joy and sadness have good people. And the suffering of the body which they have in time bringeth them to life everlasting. Moreover, the joy that they have is the fruit of suffering, and thus suffering and joy subsist together, and the greater the suffering of the body, the greater is the joy of the spirit. That they can rejoice in sufferings is a sign that they belong to eternal life. Never was there to any man a divine joy in suffering, if he belonged to hell. From this cause also sinners have an everlasting sadness in their joy. The fruit of their temporal lust is much more a sham and a vain fancy than a truth. It is also in truth no joy but everlasting torment. These men, the more external delight they have, the more are they inwardly tortured. And this is a sign that they do not belong to God. For luck in this time is an affair of everlasting ill luck. He therefore who puffeth himself up with temporal luck is like unto a thief who rejoiceth when he is led over a green meadow; and so long as he is on the green meadow he thinketh it is well with him, but as soon as he hath passed over the meadow they hang him on the gallows, and all his joy is gone. So also it happeneth with the sinner who rejoiceth in this short time, and is afterwards hanged on the everlasting hellish gallows. And this is right, for they are thieves and steal from God what is His own. For all that they have is from God, and they give nothing back to Him, and therefore are they rightly hanged. And whoso is puffed up with good luck is puffed up because he is a thief and has to be hanged. Thus luck in time is a cause of hell and ill-luck, and pain a cause of everlasting life.