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On Loving God (Cistercian Fathers Series)

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I just finished reading the richly rewarding "On Loving God by Bernard of Clairvaux, Emero Stiegman." It was serendipitious for me, as I was only looking for the author [an old lost friend and my daughter's godfather] on the internet. When I found out he wrote this book, I just had to read it.

It was not easy. Only 42 pages of Bernard's text and another 108 pages of commentary, [plus notes, bibliography and index] make up this slim volume. But don't be fooled: what it lacks in size is more than balanced by its density. It took a long time to read, even though Emero's style is gentle and fluid. But each sentence is packed with solid meat, and one needs time to digest. My conclusion is that Bernard is a genius whom I never really appreciated until I met him again through Emero's eyes and heart. Emero is also a genius for being able to digest and interpret Bernard so lucidly and lovingly.

Emero's conclusion to his commentary reveals much about the two men: In speaking about Bernard's treatise on loving God, he says: "In the strength of its fidelity to the most elemental truths of consciousness this interpretation of the data of experience is justly prized by the phiolospher, who is satisfied in the unity of its vision, and by the theologian, who discovers in it, not applications of doctrine but a source of doctrinal clarification. The philosopher and theologian in everyone who reads Saint Bernard has succumbed to him, What wins attention is not so much his personality - though history agrees he was a charmer - or his style - though his craft was finely honed - but a powerful simplicity in his perception of the human struggle. Breaking though the successive barriers left by cultural evolution to reappropriate this vision is a richly rewarding task. What the man or woman of the spirit, or the student of spirituality finds in it is the reassurance and guidance of a clear witness to God's presence in human life." To which I can only add a resounding "AMEN"

This brief book On Loving God is a wonderful summary of God's love for humanity. It is a rich text, studded with support from biblical passages. The running theme throughout this book is, appropriately, love. The book will raise some interesting questions in your mind, such as why you love that which you love. For instance, he mentions that if you love a certain being for what it offers, it is actually that object which it offers that you love, and not the being himself. There are many other fine expositions on the subject of love. . . but I will leave them for you to digest on your own, as I will not be able to relate them to you sufficiently in this review.

St. Bernard of Clairvaux was a French abbot and a reformer of the Cistercian monastic order. He is also one of the most influential Catholic saints. Hir spiritual insights have garnered her such a strong reputation and the following that he was recognized as one of the "Doctors of the Church," a group of 33 holy men and women who have over the centuries made an important impact on Catholic spirituality and theology. The list includes some true intellectual giants, such as St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas. The depth and the breadth of their works have probably not been surpassed by the thinkers in any field of human intellectual endeavor. On the other hand there are those Doctors of the Church who may not have written much, but their particular insights and visions have proved to be so important and influential that their contributions deservedly need to be held in the highest esteem. Even though he has not written as many works as St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Bernard's writings are as inspirational, insightful and elegantly written as anything coming from those two giants. "On Loving God" is a perfect example of this great saint's insights, intellectual depth, and clear and sophisticated writing style.

Love is one of the central Christian theological virtues. In fact, it could be argued that the entire message of Christianity can be summed in one short phrase: God is Love (1 Jn 4:16). However, the kind of love that God is, and how it relates to our human love can sometimes be very hard to grasp. St. Bernard aims to answer these questions in a systematic way that relies on Scripture, Tradition, and philosophical insights. The most important questions that he tries to answer have to do with our love of God: what does it mean to love God, how can limited human beings love an infinite God, and why does God "need" our love. St Bernard provides some brilliant and inspiring insights, and while reading this book I found myself reaching for the highlighter innumerable times. A few of my favorite quotes are:

"It is plain, therefore, that dignity without wisdom is useless and that wisdom without virtue is accursed. But when one possesses virtue, then wisdom and dignity are not dangerous but blessed."

"In His Death He displayed His mercy, in His Resurrection His power; both combine to manifest His glory."

"So, all the more, one who loves God truly asks no other recompense than God Himself; for if he should demand anything else it would be the prize that he loved and not God."

For a book that is this short, "On Loving God" contains an inordinate amount of wisdom and insight that are as relevant today as they are when these words were first written down. This is one of those rare books that I keep going back to well after I've finished reading it. It has become one of my treasured spiritual books.

The reason for loving God is God Himself; and the measure of love due to Him is immeasurable love. Nothing is more reasonable, nothing is more profitable. If one seeks for God's claim upon our love here is the chiefest: Because He first loved us (I John 4:19). (Chapter 1)

Man must seek in his own higher nature for the highest gifts; and these are dignity, wisdom and virtue. By dignity I mean free-will, whereby he not only excels all other earthly creatures, but has dominion over them. Wisdom is the power whereby he recognizes this dignity, and perceives also that it is no accomplishment of his own. And virtue impels man to seek eagerly for Him who is man's Source, and to lay fast hold on Him when He has been found. Pride only, the chief of all iniquities, can make us treat gifts as if they were rightful attributes of our nature, and, while receiving benefits, rob our Benefactor of His due glory. (Chapter 2)

To them that long for the presence of the living God, the thought of Him is sweetest itself: but there is no satiety, rather an ever-increasing appetite, even as the Scripture bears witness, 'they that eat me shall yet be hungry' (Ecclus. 24:21). 'Whoso eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood hath eternal life' (John 6:54). That signifies, whoso honors My death and after My example mortifies his members which are upon the earth (Col. 3:5) shall have eternal life, even as the apostle says, 'If we suffer, we shall also reign with Him' (II Tim. 2:12). (Chapter 4)

'What shall I render unto the Lord for all His benefits towards me?' (Ps. 116:12). Reason and natural justice alike move me to give up myself wholly to loving Him to whom I owe all that I have and am. But faith shows me that I should love Him far more than I love myself, as I come to realize that He hath given me not my own life only, but even Himself. 'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul and with all thy might' (Deut. 6:5). Why should he not love Him with all his being, since it is by His gift alone that he can do anything that is good? It was God's creative grace that out of nothingness raised us to the dignity of manhood; and from this appears our duty to love Him, and the justice of His claim to that love. (Chapter 5)

For since our love is toward God, who is infinite and immeasurable, how can we bound or limit the love we owe Him? (Chapter 6)

The hunger of man's heart cannot be satisfied with earthly things. Love is an affection of the soul, not a contract. It is spontaneous in its origin and impulse; and true love is its own satisfaction. It has its reward; but that reward is the object beloved. For whatever you seem to love, if it is on account of something else, what you do really love is that something else, not the apparent object of desire. St. Paul did not preach the Gospel that he might earn his bread; he ate that he might be strengthened for his ministry. What he loved was not bread, but the Gospel. True love does not demand a reward. So, all the more, one who loves God truly asks no other recompense than God Himself; for if he should demand anything else it would be the prize that he loved and not God. If you wish to attain to the consummation of all desire, so that nothing unfulfilled will be left, why weary yourself with fruitless efforts, running hither and thither, only to die long before the goal is reached? Man knows no peace in the world; but he has no disturbance when he is with God. Even as the Preacher saith, and the fool discovereth, 'He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver' (Eccles. 5:10). But Christ saith, 'Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled' (Matt. 5:6). Righteousness is the natural and essential food of the soul, which can no more be satisfied by earthly treasures than the hunger of the body can be satisfied by air. If you should see a starving man standing with mouth open to the wind, inhaling draughts of air as if in hope of gratifying his hunger, you would think him lunatic. But it is no less foolish to imagine that the soul can be satisfied with worldly things which only inflate it without feeding it. The motive for loving God is God Himself. Our love is prepared and rewarded by His. No one can seek the Lord who has not already found him. (Chapter 7)

The First Degree of Love - Wherein man loves God for self's sake. Now a man cannot love his neighbor in God, except he love God Himself; wherefore we must love God first, in order to love our neighbors in Him. This too, like all good things, is the Lord's doing, that we should love Him, for He hath endowed us with the possibility of love. (Chapter 8)

The Second and Third Degrees of Love - Let frequent troubles drive us to frequent supplications; and surely, tasting, we must see how gracious the Lord is (Ps. 34:8). Whosoever loves God aright loves all God's creatures. Such love is pure, and finds no burden in the precept bidding us purify our souls, in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren (I Peter 1:22). The third degree of love, we have now seen, is to love God on His own account, solely because He is God. (Chapter 9)

The Fourth Degree of Love - Wherein man does not even love self save for God's sake. God has made all for His own glory (Isa. 43:7), surely His creatures ought to conform themselves, as much as they can, to His will. In Him should all our affections center, so that in all things we should seek only to do His will, not to please ourselves. And real happiness will come, not in gratifying our desires or in gaining transient pleasures, but in accomplishing God's will for us: even as we pray every day: 'Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven' (Matt. 6:10). It is therefore impossible to offer up all our being to God, to yearn altogether for His face, so long as we must accommodate our purposes and aspirations to these fragile, sickly bodies of ours. Wherefore the soul may hope to possess the fourth degree of love, or rather to be possessed by it, only when it has been clothed upon with that spiritual and immortal body, which will be perfect, peaceful, lovely, and in everything wholly subjected to the spirit. And to this degree no human effort can attain: it is in God's power to give it to whom He wills. Then the soul will easily reach that highest stage, because no lusts of the flesh will retard its eager entrance into the joy of its Lord, and no troubles will disturb its peace. (Chapter 10)

The fourth degree of love is attained for ever when we love God only and supremely, when we do not even love ourselves except for God's sake; so that He Himself is the reward of them that love Him, the everlasting reward of an everlasting love. (Chapter 11)

To love our neighbor's welfare as much as our own: that is true and sincere charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned (I Tim. 1:5). Whosoever loves his own prosperity only is proved thereby not to love good for its own sake, since he loves it on his own account. Such a man would praise God, not because He is goodness, but because He has been good to him. One praises God because He is mighty, another because He is gracious, yet another solely because He is essential goodness. The first is a slave and fears for himself; the second is greedy, desiring further benefits; but the third is a son who honors his Father. He who fears, he who profits, are both concerned about self-interest. Only in the son is that charity which seeketh not her own (I Cor. 13:5). The law of the Lord is an undefiled law, converting the soul' (Ps. 19:7) to be of charity; because charity alone is able to turn the soul away from love of self and of the world to pure love of God. Neither fear nor self-interest can convert the soul. Neither fear nor self-interest is undefiled, nor can they convert the soul. Only charity can convert the soul, freeing it from unworthy motives. Love is at once God and the gift of God, essential love imparting the quality of love. Love is the eternal law whereby the universe was created and is ruled. Since all things are ordered in measure and number and weight, and nothing is left outside the realm of law, that universal law cannot itself be without a law, which is itself. So love though it did not create itself, does surely govern itself by its own decree. (Chapter 12)

Love is never without desire, but it is lawful desire. So love perfects the law of service by infusing devotion; it perfects the law of wages by restraining covetousness. By God's grace, it will come about that man will love his body and all things pertaining to his body, for the sake of his soul. He will love his soul for God's sake; and he will love God for Himself alone. (Chapter 14)

At first, man loves himself for his own sake. That is the flesh, which can appreciate nothing beyond itself. Next, he perceives that he cannot exist by himself, and so begins by faith to seek after God, and to love Him as something necessary to his own welfare. That is the second degree, to love God, not for God's sake, but selfishly. But when he has learned to worship God and to seek Him aright, meditating on God, reading God's Word, praying and obeying His commandments, he comes gradually to know what God is, and finds Him altogether lovely. So, having tasted and seen how gracious the Lord is (Ps. 34:8), he advances to the third degree, when he loves God, not merely as his benefactor but as God. Surely he must remain long in this state; and I know not whether it would be possible to make further progress in this life to that fourth degree and perfect condition wherein man loves himself solely for God's sake. (Chapter 15)

I read this book for a paper for a class I am taking in college. I really connected with his descriptions of love. Very good book, not very long either.