Hildegard of Bingen: Miraculous Abstinence

John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. Matthew 3:4

“What does this mean? Divine grace had woken miraculous abstinence in [John the Baptist], and by that grace he had a defense of his virtue, for in his mind he had despised honor and earthly riches, and in his body he had tamed the wanton urges through the restraints that, to mortify vice, he had put on the pleasures of the flesh. For, advancing through hard and rough ways and trampling down earthly lust, he built greater towers of virtue than his predecessors. How?

Because, vigorously performing many works of virtue, he ardently loved chastity and showed the way of healing to those who devotedly sought it. Therefore, all monks who make profession should follow John in his way of life, who shone by his lofty works of blessed virtue amid the great darkness of the world; they should flee from the meaningless expanse of worldly things, restrain their wandering minds and so force their bodies to renounce evil desire. Thus they will outshine by more excellent means those who before their time walked simply in the way of the Lord and made their simple habitations; they will take the steep and narrow path by firmly treading underfoot those things that are the pleasures of the world. How?

Because, despising themselves and subjecting their bodies to the service of Christ in the work of the virtues, they will shun wantonness by austere behavior and so shine brightly for others by their good examples. For they faithfully imitate the angelic choir. How? By renouncing worldly things; for, as the angels do not seek or long for the things of earth, these people follow them miraculously in despising all fleeting things.”

Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179) in Scivias (Mahwah: Paulist Press, 1990) 211.

John the Baptist set an example that monks after him chose to follow. Remember what Jesus said about him.

“Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” Matthew 11:11

Don’t you love that? Jesus speaks of him as the greatest guy who as ever lived, and then adds the powerful truth that the greatest on earth is the least in the kingdom. It means John got to serve everyone.

He did a great job. What about you? You may not be a monk but you can ‘shine brightly’ by renouncing worldly things. This is not easy. But it is good.

Someone asked me recently how has the discipline of writing Daily Meditations has impacted me over nearly 17 years. They continued, “You are so busy. Where do you find the time?”

I replied that I can’t not do it. I have found that the best use of my time is to block an hour a day with Jesus and it transforms me, teaches me things to share, and gives me clarity, energy, confidence, and joy.

Using Hildegard’s language, I think the daily office for the monk – that includes you and me – is the place to locate the well of miraculous abstinence. When we drink from there we never thirst again. Why?

It satisfies. It’s the only thing in the world that satisfies.

If the secret to his miraculous abstinence was divine grace imparted to him by separating himself from others to be with God, then let us make that our prayer today.

Is God whispering to you to block time with him daily?

You don’t need to wear camel’s hair and a leather belt or eat locusts and wild honey, but you do need divine grace to have miraculous abstinence to choose Jesus over everything else.

God give us divine grace in abundance and help us live lives of miraculous abstience. Amen.

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. Matthew 16:24

“Self-denial is the prerequisite for generosity toward God and neighbor.”

Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179) in Scivias (Mahwah: Paulist Press, 1990) 39.

Someone asked me recently to find more short ones. Here’s a winner for you. Just read it ten times so that it sinks in and is so important.

Without self-denial, there is not generosity toward God or neighbor. Why?

Think about it. As a follower of Christ, you must surrender your will to the Father, like Christ did, and acknowledge that the Father will look after you better than I can look after yourself.

The surrender novena points the way: Jesus, I surrender myself too you, take care of everything.

Pray that ten times today. Make it a daily habit. What’s at stake if you don’t? I’m serious here. You cannot be right toward God or generous toward your neighbor without self-denial.

In the words of Jesus, you just might gain the whole world and lose your soul in the process.

What would Hildegard say to us today? She would say, do not just know the way of the Lord, deny yourself and walk it. Live simply, give sacrificially, serve humbly, and love generously.

Then the angel who was speaking to me said, “Proclaim this word: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘I am very jealous for Jerusalem and Zion, and I am very angry with the nations that feel secure. I was only a little angry, but they went too far with the punishment.’ “Therefore this is what the Lord says: ‘I will return to Jerusalem with mercy, and there my house will be rebuilt. And the measuring line will be stretched out over Jerusalem,’ declares the Lord Almighty. “Proclaim further: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘My towns will again overflow with prosperity, and the Lord will again comfort Zion and choose Jerusalem.’” Zechariah 1:14-17

“This is to say that in the Jealousy of the Lord there is no clamorous voice of warning raised in its pride, but a motionless persistence in strength and righteous judgment. It punishes the mad deeds that merit its vengeance, deeds done without fear of the Lord; it confounds and crushes them to the full extent of its justice, as was shown to you, O human, in this most true vision. And because God is just, it is needful to examine all injustice by the standard of His justice; for God Himself knows well the capacity of Man’s knowledge to scrutinize all things.”

Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179) in Scivias (Mahwah: Paulist Press, 1990) 428-429.

Zechariah calls the people of God to return to Him. Speaking the word spoken to him, he refers to God as jealous for Jerusalem and Zion. Pause for a moment. Affix that idea on yourself. Did you know God is jealous for you. He wants your love, time, and attention.

And He wants every corner of your life and every part of your heart. That’s why Hildegard reminds us today that “it is needful to examine all injustice by the standard of His justice.” This reminds me of a post from a few days ago.

Last week, C.S. Lewis reminded us of the need to “cure our illusions about ourselves” and I recounted what I learned from Chuck Colson years ago – to “never underestimate the ability of the human person to rationalize their disobedience.” That statement impacted many readers who responded.

Hildegard says something similar in saying “for God Himself knows well the capacity of Man’s knowledge to scrutinize all things.” We rationalize and scrutinize and, in the end, we end up looking more like the ways of the world than the ways of God.

God is jealous and He wants your prosperity, but before that, He wants you to return to Him. Examine your life. Pick one of these four areas where maybe God is speaking to you to follow His standards: live simply, give sacrificially, serve humbly, and love generously.

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it. Matthew 13:45-46

“I am the Grace of God, my little children; therefore hear and understand me, for my admonition makes radiant the souls of those who do. I keep them in blessedness, so that they will not return to iniquity. And because they have not despised me, I choose to touch them with my admonition so that they will do good works; those, that is, who seek me in simplicity and purity of heart.

So I admonish and exhort humanity, and grant it pearls of goodness; when a person’s mind is touched by me, I am his beginning. That is to say when a person understands my admonition with his sense of hearing, and his senses consent to my touching his mind, I initiate good in him. And it is needful that he begin thus, with me helping him. Then a struggle follows: Will my gift attain its end or not? How?

Understand thus. When I admonish a person, so that he begins to lament and weep for his sins, then if his will consents to my admonition-for he will feel the change in his mind, and according to his mind’s desire he will raise his eyes to see and his ears to hear and his mouth to speak and his hands to touch and his feet to walk-his mind will raise itself to conquer his senses, so that they will learn things their habits could not teach them.”

Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179) in Scivias (Mahwah: Paulist Press, 1990) 428-429.

This week our readings on what is needful for living simply, giving sacrificially, serving humbly, and loving generously come from Hildegard of Bingen’s classic work Scivias, contraction of the Latin phrase “Scito vias Domini,” which literally translates to “Know the Ways of the Lord.”

And I changed out the header photo. The last time I was walking my son’s dogs by Bear Creek it was so peaceful and the reflection the water was a mirror image of the sky. I hope you like the photo and that it fills your heart with the peace of Christ.

Turning our attention today’s reading, I am captivated by Hildegard’s vision of how the Lord works graciously in our lives. He grants us pearls of goodness – little beautiful insights to raise our awareness to our sins to nudge us to righteousness living. Will we respond?

Her use of the word ‘pearl’ took me to Today’s Scripture. The bloke in the story responded! He sold everything and bought the pearl. He was all in! That’s what the grace of God beckons us to be. But the Spirit does not work by force, but by giving us pearls of goodness, like whispers on a calm day.

What is God whispering to you related to living simply, giving sacrificially, serving humbly, and loving generously? If we get these four things right, our lives reflect the ways of the Lord. Sit with God for a few minutes, ask for a pearl of goodness and be “all in” in your response to God.

But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Luke 6:35-36

“I said in a previous chapter that chastity was the most unpopular of the Christian virtues. But I am not sure I was right. I believe there is one even more unpopular. It is laid down in the Christian rule, ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.’ Because in Christian morals ‘thy neighbour’ includes ‘thy enemy’, and so we come up against this terrible duty of forgiving our enemies. Every one says forgiveness is a lovely idea, until they have something to forgive, as we had during the war.”

C.S. Lewis (1898-1963) in Mere Christianity (New York: HarperCollins, 1980) 137.

So in today’s final post from this classic work looking at what is needful, we discover that forgiveness comes into view as both a command and a gift.

Jesus forgives us as we forgive others. Brace yourself. The etymology of the word “forgive” means: “to give away, to give up, or to grant completely.”

See why forgiveness might just be the greatest or one of the greatest forms of generosity? We give away, give up, and grant completely to others the way we want God to give and grant to us.

God, make us people known for our forgiveness. Remind us of the forgiveness you have extended to us so we become people willing to forgive others. Do this by your Holy Spirit I pray in Jesus name. Amen.

This week, I heard the whisper of Jesus. It was a still small voice. It beckoned me to plan a trip back to Ukraine in the coming months to encourage workers on the front lines and deliver aid plus a message.

What is the message: “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” Romans 12:21

While the Ukrainians have suffered unspeakable losses and horrible pain, it will only be worse if they chose to hate their enemies. I need to remind them of this and take some emergency aid.

My wife just returned from teaching there last month. The Ukrainians feel exhausted and forgotten. If you want to help send me, reply to this message. I feel led to go serve and help them.

Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:13-14

“We may, indeed, be sure that perfect chastity — like perfect charity — will not be attained by any merely human efforts. You must ask for God’s help. Even when you have done so, it may seem to you for a long time that no help, or less help than you need, is being given. Never mind. After each failure, ask forgiveness, pick yourself up, and try again. Very often what God first helps us towards is not the virtue itself but just this power of always trying again. For however important chastity (or courage, or truthfulness, or any other virtue) may be, this process trains us in habits of the soul which are more important still. It cures our illusions about ourselves and teaches us to depend on God. We learn, on the one hand, that we cannot trust ourselves even in our best moments, and, on the other, that we need not despair even in our worst, for our failures are forgiven. The only fatal thing is to sit down content with anything less than perfection.”

C.S. Lewis (1898-1963) in Mere Christianity (New York: HarperCollins, 1980) 137.

In our second to last post from this classic work, what is needful is to engage “habits of the soul” which “cure our illusions about ourselves” and they teach us “to depend on God.”

I love this expression to “cure our illusions about ourselves” as Chuck Colson taught me, years ago, to “never underestimate the ability of the human person to rationalize their disobedience.”

Related to generosity, we tend not to focus on obedience to Jesus and learning habits of the soul that lead to life. Instead we focus on others and rationalize we are good if exceed what they are doing.

What is the goal of such habits of the soul? To teach us the needful posture of dependence on God. If you have room to grow, welcome to the club. We all do. Aim at maturity, or in biblical terms, perfection.

Engage habits of the soul, like growing your giving from surplus giving to sacrificial giving. This cures your illusions about yourself and it teaches you to depend on God.

However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived” — the things God has prepared for those who love Him. 1 Corinthians 2:9

“There is no need to be worried by facetious people who try to make the Christian hope of ‘Heaven’ ridiculous by saying they do not want ‘to spend eternity playing harps’. The answer to such people is that if they cannot understand books written for grown-ups, they should not talk about them. All the scriptural imagery (harps, crowns, gold, etc.) is, of course, a merely symbolical attempt to express the inexpressible.

Musical instruments are mentioned because for many people (not all) music is the thing known in the present life which most strongly suggests ecstasy and infinity. Crowns are mentioned to suggest the fact that those who are united with God in eternity share His splendor and power and joy. Gold is mentioned to suggest the timelessness of Heaven (gold does not rust) and the preciousness of it. People who take these symbols literally might as well think that when Christ told us to be like doves, He meant that we were to lay eggs.”

C.S. Lewis (1898-1963) in Mere Christianity (New York: HarperCollins, 1980) 137.

As we think about what is needful from the perspective of C.S. Lewis in this classic work, the inexpressible comes into view. That is to say, it is needful to understand that the awesomeness of Heaven is inexpressible.

So when God calls us to live generously and store up treasure in Heaven and anticipate reward, we must not see this as a good exchange but the best possible exchange.

Imagine if I offered you the chance to buy today the Amazon, Apple, or Microsoft stock at first offering price. You would buy it immediately, right? Why? You know it has grown exponentially!

Now apply that thinking to Heaven. The call not to store treasures here but to store them there is an even better offering. What you will attain there coupled with reward is unimaginably good.

So why don’t people jump at the opportunity to live, give, serve, and love with radical sacrificial generosity? There are many reasons ranging from unbelief to worldliness.

Perhaps Lewis says it best in concluding that, sadly, people take symbols literally, and I would add, they treat the commands of Jesus as suggestions.

Lord have mercy on those who will experience inexpressible regret in Heaven for their failure to obey while they had the opportunity. Don’t let that be you.

The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. Instead He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9

“I hope no reader will suppose that ‘mere’ Christianity is here put forward as an alternative to the creeds of the existing communions — as if a man could adopt it in preference to Congregationalism or Greek Orthodoxy or anything else. It is more like a hall out of which doors open into several rooms. If I can bring anyone into that hall I shall have done what I attempted. But it is in the rooms, not in the hall, that there are fires and chairs and meals.

The hall is a place to wait in, a place from which to try the various doors, not a place to live in. For that purpose the worst of the rooms (whichever that may be) is, I think, preferable. It is true that some people may find they have to wait in the hall for a considerable time, while others feel certain almost at once which door they must knock at. I do not know why there is this difference, but I am sure God keeps no one waiting unless He sees that it is good for him to wait.

When you do get into your room you will find that the long wait has done you some kind of good which you would not have had otherwise. But you must regard it as waiting, not as camping. You must keep on praying for light: and, of course, even in the hall, you must begin trying to obey the rules which are common to the whole house. And above all you must be asking which door is the true one; not which pleases you best by its paint and paneling.

In plain language, the question should never be: ‘Do I like that kind of service?’ but ‘Are these doctrines true: Is holiness here? Does my conscience move me towards this? Is my reluctance to knock at this door due to my pride, or my mere taste, or my personal dislike of this particular door-keeper?’

When you have reached your own room, be kind to those who have chosen different doors and to those who are still in the hall. If they are wrong they need your prayers all the more; and if they are your enemies, then you are under orders to pray for them. That is one of the rules common to the whole house.”

C.S. Lewis (1898-1963) in Mere Christianity (New York: HarperCollins, 1980) XIII-XIV.

Over the weekend I messaged back and forth with a faithful Daily Meditations reader. He expressed a desire for people he knows to embrace the message of a particular post. Here was my reply.

“Let me tell you the hardest thing about living a surrendered life. You want more for those around you. You have tasted the life that is truly life and understand that it requires perpetual surrender. But others are not where you are? And you have been where they are. Your role is to help them grasp life in the economy of God with love, a pure heart, and sincere faith. And you realize just how much is out of your control so you pray more than ever.”

Why do I share this? Only a couple days later, I read this excerpt from Lewis. My friend has picked the door. Others are out in the hall. God extends patience to them. We need do the same thing. We forget that He was patient with us.

Generosity is a journey that only reaches its destination in the kingdom where we store up treasures. Those who chose the door that reflects obedience to the teachings of Jesus can anticipate eternal reward.

For those in the hall or who have chosen the wrong doors, we need to extend to them what Christ has extended to us: patience. Their decisions are out of our control. Our work is prayer and showing them the way with love, a pure heart, and sincere faith.

Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God. Matthew 19:24

“We must, therefore, not be surprised if we find among the Christians some people who are still nasty. There is even,
when you come to think it over, a reason why nasty people might be expected to turn to Christ in greater numbers than nice ones. That was what people objected to about Christ during His life on earth: He seemed to attract ‘such awful people’. That is what people still object to and always will. Do you not see why? Christ said ‘Blessed are the poor’ and ‘How hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom,’ and no doubt He primarily meant the economically rich and economically poor. But do not His words also apply to another kind of riches and poverty?

One of the dangers of having a lot of money is that you may be quite satisfied with the kinds of happiness money can give and so fail to realize your need for God. If everything seems to come simply by signing cheques, you may forget that you are at every moment totally dependent on God. Now quite plainly, natural gifts carry with them a similar danger. If you have sound nerves and intelligence and health and popularity and a good upbringing, you are likely to be quite satisfied with your character as it is. ‘Why drag God into it?’ you may ask. A certain level of good conduct comes fairly easily to you. You are not one of those wretched creatures who are always being tripped up by sex, or dipsomania, or nervousness, or bad temper.

Everyone says you are a nice chap and (between ourselves) you agree with them. You are quite likely to believe that all this niceness is your own doing: and you may easily not feel the need for any better kind of goodness. Often people who have all these natural kinds of goodness cannot be brought to recognize their need for Christ at all until, one day, the natural goodness lets them down and their self-satisfaction is shattered. In other words, it is hard for those who are ‘rich’ in this sense to enter the Kingdom.”

C.S. Lewis (1898-1963) in Mere Christianity (New York: HarperCollins, 1980) 213-214.

Are you nice or nasty? Here Lewis does a brilliant job (as always) to open our eyes to the fact that we may rank among those trusting in the wrong kind of goodness. It is needful to get this right.

Nice people tend to think that they have everything under control. They have little need for God as they have most things sorted. Their material and social wealth puts them in a seemingly secure place.

Their generosity flows from their surplus. They value comfort. Their bank balances show where they place their trust. They give to o their church and charities. But are they generous? Will they enter the kingdom?

Nasty people know they don’t have everything under control. They have great need for God as the circumstances of life have overwhelmed them. Their material and social poverty has them scraping by to survive.

Their give from their poverty. They know only sporadic comfort. They have little treasure on earth, but they understand the sacrifice of Christ for them so they give sacrificially. Are they generous? Will they enter the kingdom?

Many have said that Jesus comforted the afflicted and afflicted the comfortable. Are you afflicted or nasty today? Turn to Jesus and find generous help. Are you comfortable or nice? Let go of that or you may miss the kingdom!

Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Colossians 3:5

“Now what was the sort of ‘hole’ man had got himself into? He had tried to set up on his own, to behave as if he belonged
to himself. In other words, fallen man is not simply an imperfect creature who needs improvement: he is a rebel who must
lay down his arms. Laying down your arms, surrendering, saying you are sorry, realising that you have been on the wrong
track and getting ready to start life over again from the ground floor—that is the only way out of our ‘hole’. This process of surrender—this movement full speed astern—is what Christians call repentance. Now repentance is no fun at all. It is something much harder than merely eating humble pie. It means unlearning all the self-conceit and self-will that we have been training ourselves into for thousands of years. It means killing part of yourself, undergoing a kind of death.”

C.S. Lewis (1898-1963) in Mere Christianity (New York: HarperCollins, 1980) 56.

In today’s Scripture, greed falls at the end of the list because money is the thing that most competes for the place of God in our hearts. Those who live according to the earthly nature are slaves to money.

We need to put this old thinking to death. But, frankly speaking, the longer a person lives according to the earthly way of thinking the harder it is for unlearning to happen.

As Lewis puts, such people are imperfect creatures in a “hole.” He also describes them as one “the wrong track.” They need to “start life all over again.”

You don’t add Jesus to life, you surrender and change directions. Most people, sadly, stay stuck because they remain slaves to money.

At Generosity Monk, we are building a new website. Take a moment to pray for our team as we work on this.

It will have a chatbot feature called, “Ask the Generosity Monk.” All my books and blogs have been uploaded to an AI tool powered by Chatbase. You will be able to ask it a question and it should answer how I would answer. Why do this?

I get asked questions every day. But often people say they are hesitant to ask questions because, in the words of Lewis, it reveals the “hole” in which they find themselves. This feature will cost me upwards of $1400 per year.

Why spend that money? If I can help tens, hundreds, or thousands of people unlearn slavery to money and go “full speed astern” by making money their slave as a faithful steward of God, it will be worth it.

To invest in this and other features, make a gift today to the Generosity Monk Fund at this link. Deploy me and my fellow servants at Generosity Monk to help people put their earthly ways to death. Thanks in advance for your support.