Admonition 2: Examine Thy Motives

Thou wouldst do well to examine thy motives;
for in searching thy motives, thou dost come to know thyself.
Probe then the intent that lieth beneath thy deeds, and thou shalt behold the man who performeth them.
To neglect the knowing of why thou dost a thing is to remain ignorant of for what thou dost it.

Ask thyself oft, ere thou dost embark upon any work:
“What is this that I purpose to do, and to what end is it bent?”
For the purpose that undergirdeth thy practices rendereth the practice itself either good or evil.

To be devoid of a righteous end is to set thy compass toward sorrow and destruction.
Purposelessness is lostness—
a groping in blind obscurity.

Resolve this day whether thy life shall be guided by evil passion or by divine purpose.
They who merely react unto outward forces without a steadfast and virtuous aim
shall falter, making judgments unsound;
their house is founded upon shifting sand.

But they who respond to outward forces with an inward resolve to do the good
shall stand firm and immovable.
Remember: thy interior life giveth shape unto thy exterior life;
for who thou art and what thou thinkest cannot but pour itself forth into the life thou livest.

Thought begetteth action;
action begetteth habit;
and habit buildeth the very structure of a life.

Begin then to think.
Examine thy thoughts and the manner in which thou thinkest.
Did not the holy Apostle exhort us to take every thought captive,
to test all things, and to hold fast that which is true?

In the end there are but two purposes:
to fulfill God’s holy will,
or to labor after the establishment of thine own selfish will.
The former leadeth unto light, tranquility, and peace—even amidst tempest and trial;
the latter leadeth surely unto anxiety, self-loathing or self-idolatry, and confusion of soul.

O my soul, choose now thy purpose,
and thy life shall be steered toward that chosen end.
Is this not the way of God’s saints,
who set the Lord’s will above their own?

If thy end be the Good Himself, then shalt thou be good.
But if thy purpose be thine own glory,
thou shalt fashion thyself into a demon.

The Admonitions

Ite ad Joseph