A reading from Thomas Traherne

Centuries of Meditation.

  Nature

 Your enjoyment of the world is never right, till every morning you wake in heaven; see yourself in your Father’s palace; and look upon the skies , the earth, and the air as celestial joys: having such a reverend esteem of all, as if you were among the angels. The bride of a monarch, in her husband’s chamber, hath no such causes of delight as you…

   You never enjoy the world aright till the sea itself floweth in your veins, till you are clothed with the heavens’ and crowned with stars; and perceive yourself to be the sole heir of the whole world, and more than so, because men are in it who are every sole heirs as well as you. Till you can sing and rejoice and delight in God, as misers do in gold, and kings in sceptres, you never enjoy the world.

    All things were made to be yours, and you were made to prize them according to their value: which is your office and duty, the end for which you were created, and the means whereby you enjoy. The end for which you were created, is that by prizing all that God hath done, you may enjoy yourself and him in blessedness.

Traherne, Thomas, Centuries of Meditation in  Kenneth, Br. CGA  (Ed.),  From the Fathers to the Churches Daily Spiritual Readings, mainly from the Divine Office, William Collins & Sons Co. Ltd.,1983, p.434, 435.