please me least. I ought to fulfil in their regard the office of the Good Samaritan. A word, a kindly smile, will often suffice to gladden a wounded and sorrowful heart.
HIST. D'UNE AME, CH. X
Oh! what peace inundates the soul
when she rises above natural sentiment.
No joy can compare with that known to
one who is truly poor in spirit. If he
ask with detachment for some necessary
thing, and it is not only refused him, but
an attempt made besides to deprive him
of what he already has, he follows the
counsel of our Lord: "And if a man will
contend with thee in judgment and take
away thy coat, let go thy cloak also unto
him."[1]
To yield up our cloak means, I think, to renounce our last rights, to consider oneself as the servant, the slave of others. When we have abandoned our mantle it is easier to walk, to run; therefore Jesus adds: "And whosoever will force thee one mile, go with him other two."[2]
