Notes on the Canticle of Charity

[Nectorist 7444]

Notes on the Canticle of Charity

 

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Canticle of Charity

We see charity as that great good that any can do and feel content in their hearts for. Even those of us with little coin to spare may drop a penny or two into a bowl laying before a starving beggar. While this does good for the beggar in some small capacity, it is a thoughtless act and thus cannot be said to be any great service done. True charity requires a measure of sacrifice. It is sleeping on the floor because you have given your bed to a stranger in need. It is feeling the pinch of hunger because you have split a loaf with a friend. It is a feeling of loss which you have willingly incurred so some other may benefit from it, though not so great that you are brought to ruin.

 

• Lo and attend, for I am the Lord God, and I am in the foremost part of heaven. Though the spring flower withereth and the fruit of the tree falleth to the ground, My Word lasts into the eve of the world, and the fruit of virtue cannot rot. 

 

There is no ‘rot’ to the Word of God, nor the virtue that He imbues in our nature. It is easy to see the bleak things of this world and fall victim to pessimism, but God remains eternal and so He is triumphant. The tree of virtue springs forth within us, but any unkempt plant may be a burden, and so that is why we prune it, maintain it, water it, and all else the gardener does.

 

• I am the Lord God without peer, and I created the metals of the earth, and the onyx and alabaster, and placed within thy groves the trees of incense and resin, and gave unto the beasts of the earth their fine coats. And so I have placed into thy hearts the blessing of abundance, and the virtuous wealth of the spirit. And as I have given unto thee, my child, the blessing of spiritual abundance, so shalt thou give unto thy fellows the blessing of My Word and My Love.

 

God gave us two great gifts when we were created: to have abundance upon this world and to be able to harness this abundance which has been provided. The ascetics who clamber for poverty are perhaps noble in spirit, but misguided as to why the wealth of the ground and the forests exist. We are a people that number a great many and so the places we inhabit must be sufficient for us. This is why a grassy plain with many streams is always preferable to a dry desert. 

 

Just as is the case with this physical reality, so too does our spiritual reality follow. Beasts are unintelligent because they live lives of scarcity: they search for their next meal, not knowing if they will starve. They search for shelter, not knowing if they will be shielded from the rain. These preoccupations prevent higher thought, but we are different than these beasts. Our ability to work the earth, and spring forth from it many goods, allows us time to build community, to contemplate life, and to celebrate our faith.

 

This is why I say to those kings and their cronies that hoard the wealth of their country for themselves, while allowing a single one of their subjects to live in squalor: do your charity, sacrifice what means little to you, and make Canonists of your people! All that separates the highest king from the lowliest peasant are the resources they have that allow them to pursue other things. Any king who does not recognize this, and does not humble themself before the Lord and perform sufficient charity, is taking for granted the wealth of this world that He has provided for them. It is not their blood, nor their merit, nor any other factor that allows them their material basis to rule- it is God and God alone.

 

• For I placed into thy heart a wealth of virtue, and I have created for thee a garden of abundance. And thou shalt give unto the world the physical abundance of fullness and warmth, and the virtuous wealth of the spirit. For the wealth of the spirit is never divided, but multiplied.

 

And so in turn we must recognize that virtue, when dispensed, does not deplete. It seems that some fear this is the case, for they believe that only one good deed is needed. It may be wiser, then, to look at the practice of virtue not as performing certain deeds which may be recorded and redeemed but instead as orienting one’s life around being a good friend, holding faith to His Word, and doing right by their fellow Canonist. From here, good works will naturally flow and there will be no need to document the performance of virtue. Read the Scrolls, help your neighbor, temper vices, all these things will build a far more pious character. The wealth of the spirit is not a bank loan- share it liberally.

 

• So I am the Most High, and in pursuit of My Virtue, I bid thee, My faithful, this: Thou shalt not covet the wealth of this world, nor the wealth of others, but the wealth of the spirit.

 

This passage is oft-quoted by those kings who wish to justify their hoarding of the wealth of their people, but it is a cynical use of His Word. A man with an empty bowl does not covet his neighbor’s full bowl, instead he looks longingly at the second bowl being enjoyed by his fat, rich neighbor. This is because the fat, rich man needs only one bowl, yet he finds it acceptable to flaunt the fact that he may enjoy two, even while his neighbor starves. If the man with an empty bowl were truly covetous, then he would feel envy of both men, but he only does with the neighbor that has more than what he needs to eat.

 

This is because those who hoard wealth, or use it in excess, are wasteful. They spend their money on trivialities and vanities, much as a child with food left on their plate dispenses it outside or in the garbage. It is against our nature to let good things be wasted, and so it is our nature to see that when wealth is wasted that it would be better-put in those places where there are deficiencies. The Lord gave to us abundance, and all of us ought to share in the wealth of the world. Those who deny others of this are marked by greed.  

 

• And I am the Lord God without peer, and My abundance is the true abundance, and My wealth is the pure wealth, and all the blessings of abundance shall fall before the righteous who share it.

 

Those who have the capacity to share- share! Open the doors of your home to any who come knocking. Join together for a meal or a drink with those who ask. Help your friend pay their home taxes when they have come up short for the year. These are things we all can do and must do, for it is a blessing upon the soul and a foundational piece of community. It is important that we all do this, for those who hoard are no greater than those that covet. Our Lord is not an isolated one, for He is ever-present in our lives, gifting us with the blessing of virtue, His Word, and the world that He made for us. His charity for us poor sinners will never cease.

 

Acolyte Davide

 

[JoanOfArc 4586]

Sadie de la Cruz skimmed through the text then clicked on the upvote. She was really proud of her boyfriend's good work! Wow, what a stunning man and great scholar!