Centuries of Meditations – First Century

94

Thy will, O Christ, and Thy Spirit in essence are one. As therefore Thy human will is conformable to Thy Divine; let my will be conformable to Thine. Thy divine Will is all wisdom, goodness, righteousness, holiness, glory, and blessedness. It is all light and life and love. It extends to all things in heaven and earth. It illuminates all eternity, it beautifies the omnipresence of God with glory without dimensions. It is infinite in greatness and magnifies all that are united to it. Oh that my will being made great by Thine, might become divine, exalted, perfected! O Jesu, without Thee I can do nothing. O Thou in whom the fulness of the Godhead dwelleth, I desire to learn of Thee, to become in spirit like unto Thee. I desire not to learn of my relations, acquaintance, tradesmen, merchants or earthly princes to be like unto them; but like unto Thee, the King of Glory, and to those who are Thy sons and friends in another World. Grant therefore, O Thou of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that being strengthened with might by Thy spirit in the inner man, I may be able to comprehend with all Saints, what is the breadth and length and depth and heights, and to know that Love of Christ which passes knowledge, that I may be filled with all the fulness of God.

Thomas Traherne (1637 – September 27, 1674) was an English poet, Anglican cleric, theologian, and religious writer. Traherne’s writings frequently explore the glory of creation and what he saw as his intimate relationship with God. The work for which Traherne is best known today is the Centuries of Meditations, a collection of short paragraphs in which he reflects on Christian life and ministry, philosophy, happiness, desire and childhood. This was first published in 1908 after having been rediscovered in manuscript ten years earlier. Before its rediscovery this manuscript was said to have been lost for almost two hundred years and is now considered a much loved devotional.

Thomas Traherne, Centuries of Meditations. Public Domain