It was expensive, but he reduced it substantially, in what he called "an ecumenical gesture."
Fénelon was a philosopher, theologian, and spiritual director. He could be intense, affected, and in the tradition of Quietism instructed his 'clients' in submission to Providence, acceptance of life circumstances, and a self-examining introspection. His writings are a taste I've never acquired, his emphases on self-denial push too close to self-abnegation.
But sometimes there's an astringent note that is a positive cure for the other extreme of complacency, and not taking life seriously as, well, the journey of our lives! Like this one:
"We should constantly strive, without loitering or carelessness, to advance in that path which we shall never be permitted to retrace, with watchfulness and humility, since we have no security for our continuing in it, or any knowledge of the hour when we shall be summoned before our Creator, to give an account of the manner in which we shall have performed our journey." 23.
Leave a Reply