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| Commandment Second. On Avoiding Evil-Speaking, and on Giving Alms in Simplicity.
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On Avoiding Evil-Speaking, and on Giving Alms in Simplicity.
He said to me, “Be simple and guileless, and
you will be as the children who know not the wickedness that ruins
the life of men. First, then, speak evil of no one, nor listen with
pleasure to any one who speaks evil of another. But if you listen,
you will partake of the sin of him who speaks evil, if you believe
the slander which you hear;154
| 154
If … brother. [Jas. iv. 11.] And if you believe the
slanderer, you will also be guilty of sin, in that you have belived
one who speaks evil of your brother.—Vat. For if you
give your assent to the detractor, and believe what is said of one
in his absence, you also will be like to him, and acting ruinously
towards your brother, and you are guilty of the same sin as the
person who slanders.—Pal. | for believing it,
you will also have something to say against your brother. Thus, then,
will you be guilty of the sin of him who slanders. For slander
is evil155
| 155 For slander
is ruinous.—Vat. For it is wicked to slander any
one.—Pal. | and an unsteady demon. It never
abides in peace, but always remains in discord. Keep yourself from it,
and you will always be at peace with all. Put on a holiness in which
there is no wicked cause of offence, but all deeds that are equable
and joyful. Practise goodness; and from the rewards of your labours,
which God gives you, give to all the needy in simplicity, not hesitating
as to whom you are to give or not to give. Give to all, for God wishes
His gifts to be shared amongst all. They who receive, will render an
account to God why and for what they have received. For the afflicted who
receive will not be condemned,156
but they who
receive on false pretences will suffer punishment. He, then, who gives
is guiltless. For as he received from the Lord, so has he accomplished
his service in simplicity, not hesitating as to whom he should give
and to whom he should not give. This service, then, if accomplished in
simplicity, is glorious with God. He, therefore, who thus ministers in
simplicity, will live to God.157
| 157
This service … God. And he has accomplished this service to
God simply and gloriously.—Vat. [Rom. xii. 8.] |
Keep therefore these commandments, as I have given them to you, that your
repentance and the repentance of your house may be found in simplicity,
and your heart158
| 158 The Vat. adds:
and a blessing may fall on your house. | may be pure and
stainless.”E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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