Sadness of Christ-Redux
Continuing my reading in St. Thomas More's classic yielded this small gem:
from The Sorrows of Christ St. Thomas More And so among the other reasons why our Savior deigned to take upon Himself these feelings of human weakness, this one I have spoke of is not unworthy of consideration--I mean that having made Himself weak for the sake of the weak, He might take care of other weak men by means of His own weakness. He had their welfare so much at heart that this whole process of His agony seems designed for nothing more clearly than to lay down a fighting technique and a battle code for the fainthearted soldier who needs to be swept along, as it were, into martyrdom. (p. 17 of the Scepter Edition)
This is one of the first books I have ever read that addressed martyrdom in the real terms of human feelings, not in terms of some exotic ecstasy. St. Thomas More wisely points out that if God gives you the means to avoid martyrdom, by all means take it. If however, the mantle is thrust upon you, go with dignity and with the knowledge that Christ walked this road before you.
