y son, do not be concerned if you see others honored and exalted, but yourself condemned and debased. Lift up your heart to Me, and the contempt of men on earth will not grieve you.
Lord, we are in blindness, and are quickly misled by vanity. If I look rightly into myself, never has harm been done me by any creature; and therefore I cannot justly complain before You. But because I have often and grievously sinned against You, every creature justly takes arms against me. Onto me, therefore, shame and contempt are justly due, but onto You praise, honor, and glory. And unless I prepare myself with cheerful willingness to be despised and forsaken of every creature, and to be esteemed entirely nothing, I cannot obtain inward peace and stability, nor be spiritually enlightened, nor be fully united to You. •
