The Thorn

"To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me." Paul (II Corinthians, 12:7)

It is extremely dangerous for an individual to be boastful presuming to be unaware of the arduous service in which he is obliged daily to give difficult testimonies. It is a mental situation that is not only menacing but false, because in one unexpected instant, the thorn of the heart will appear.

The prudent student shall instill confidence without boasting, thereby revealing himself to be valuable without being ostentatious. He recognizes the extent of his own debts with the Master, but does not feel glorified himself, as he is aware that all the glory belongs to Him, the Master.

There are more than a few men in the world lacking in vigilance and anxiety, who after having received the incense of the multitude move on to harden the bitterness of loneliness; many are content while in the heights of fame, as if they were to remain eternal idols only to cry alone, with the thorn they had ignored, in the depth of their soul.

How can we assume the role of infallible teacher when we are but simple apprentices?

Would it not be more justifiable to serve the Father, as a youngster or in old age, during abundance or during scarcity, in the administration or as subordinates, with a pondering spirit, observing our vulnerable areas, in the insufficiency and imperfection of what we have been until now?

Let us remember that Paul of Tarsus had been with Jesus personally; he was appointed for divine service in Antioch by the voices from Heaven; fought, worked, and suffered for the Gospel of the Kingdom and in writing to the Corinthians, although quite aged and tired, still referred to the thorn that he was given so that he would not become personally exalted in the sublime tasks of the revelations.

XAVIER, Francisco Cândido. Our Daily Bread. By the Spirit Emmanuel. Spititist Alliance for Books, 2003. Chapter 126.