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And therefore they supplement their prayer by the addition of labour,
lest slumber might steal upon them as idlers. For as they scarcely enjoy
any time of leisure, so there is no limit put to their spiritual
meditations. For practising equally the virtues of the body and of the
soul, they balance what is due to the outer by what is profitable to the
inner man steadying the slippery motions of the heart and the shifting
fluctuations of the thoughts by the weight of labour, like some strong and
immoveable anchor, by which the changeableness and wanderings of the heart,
fastened within the barriers of the cell, may be shut up in some perfectly
secure harbour, and so, intent only on spiritual meditation and
watchfulness over the thoughts, may not only forbid the watchful mind to
give a hasty consent to any evil suggestions, but may also keep it safe
from any unnecessary and idle thoughts: so that it is not easy to say which
depends on the other--I mean, whether they practise their incessant manual
labour for the sake of spiritual meditation, or whether it is for the sake
of their continuous labours that they acquire such remarkable spiritual
proficiency and light of knowledge.
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