nor seeketh to be magnified upon the earth; many honour it with
their lips, but in heart are far from it; it is indeed the
precious pearl, which is hidden from many."

(1) Revelation iii. 18.


CHAPTER XXXIII

Of instability of the heart, and of directing the aim towards God

"My Son, trust not thy feeling, for that which is now will be
quickly changed into somewhat else. As long as thou livest thou
art subject to change, howsoever unwilling; so that thou art
found now joyful, now sad; now at peace, now disquieted; now
devout, now indevout; now studious, now careless; now sad, now
cheerful. But the wise man, and he who is truly learned in
spirit, standeth above these changeable things, attentive not to
what he may feel in himself, or from what quarter the wind may
blow, but that the whole intent of his mind may carry him on to
the due and much-desired end. For thus will he be able to remain
one and the same and unshaken, the single eye of his desire being
steadfastly fixed, through the manifold changes of the world,
upon Me.

2. "But according as the eye of intention be the more pure, even
so will a man make his way steadfastly through the manifold
storms. But in many the eye of pure intention waxeth dim; for it
quickly resteth itself upon anything pleasant which occurreth,
and rarely is any man found altogether free from the blemish of