The Rule and Exercises of Holy Living and Dying IV. OF THE PRACTICE OF THE GRACES PROPER TO THE STATE OF SICKNESS Section I Of the Practice of Patience Now we imagine the man entering upon his scene of sorrows and passive graces. It may be he went yesterday to a wedding, merry and brisk, and there he felt his sentence, that he must return home and die; nor feared that then the angel was to strike his stroke till his knees kissed the earth, and his head trembled with the weight of the rod. But whatever the ingress was, when the man feels his blood boil, or his bones weary, or his flesh diseased; then he must consider that all those discourses he has heard concerning patience, and resignation, and conformity to Christ’s sufferings, must now be reduced to practice; and pass from contemplation to such an exercise as will really try whether he was a true disciple of the cross. There would be no such thing as the grace of patience, if we were not to feel sickness; or enter into a state of sufferings where, when we are entered, we are to practice the following rules: 1. At the first address of sickness, stand still and arrest your spirit, that it may, without amazement or alarm, consider: this was that which you looked for, and were always certain would happen, and that now you are to enter into the actions of a new religion. But at no hand suffer your spirits to be dispersed with fear, or wildness of thought; but stay their looseness and dispersion by a serious consideration of the present and future employment. 2. Do not choose the kind of sickness, or the manner of your death; but let it be what God shall please, so it is no greater than your spirit or your patience. And for that you are to rely upon the promise of God, and to secure yourself by prayer. But in all other things let God be your chooser, and let it be your work to submit indifferently, and attend your duty. 3. Be patient in the desires of religion, while you fear that by serving God less, you should run backward in the favor of God. Be content that the time that was formerly spent in prayer be now spent in vomiting, and carefulness, and attendances; since God has pleased it should be so, it does not become us to think hard thoughts concerning it. Do not think that God is only to be found in a great prayer, or a solemn office; he is moved by a sigh, by a groan, by an act of love. And therefore when your pain is great, lay all your strength upon it to bear it patiently. When the evil is something more tolerable, let your mind think some pious, though short, meditation; let it not be very busy, and full of attention, for that will be but a new temptation. If you can do more, do it; but if you cannot, let it not become a scruple to you. “If we cannot labor, yet let us love.” Nothing can hinder us from that. 4. Let not the smart of your sickness make you call violently for death. You are not patient, unless you are content to live. God has wisely ordered it that we may be the better reconciled to death, because it is the period of many calamities. But wherever the general has placed you, stir not from your station until you are called off, but abide so, that death may come to you by the design of him who intends it to be your advantage. God has made patient endurance to be your work; and do not impatiently long for evening, lest at night you find the reward of him who was weary of his work. Section II Of the Practice of Faith in the Time of Sickness Now is the time in which faith appears most necessary, and most difficult. It is the foundation of a good life, and the foundation of all our hopes. It is that without which we cannot live well, and without which we cannot die well. It is a grace that then we shall need to support our spirits, to sustain our hopes, to alleviate our sickness, to resist temptations, to prevent despair. The sick man may practice it in the following instances: 1. Let the sick man be careful that he does not admit of any doubt concerning that which he believed in his best health. Above all things in the world, let the sick man fear a proposition which his sickness has put into him, contrary to the discourses of health and a sober untroubled mind. 2. Let the sick man’s faith especially be active about the promises of grace, and the excellent things of the gospel: things which can comfort him in his sorrows, and support his patience; those upon the hopes of which he did the duties of his life, and for which he is not unwilling to die; such as the intercession and the advocacy of Christ, remission of sins, the resurrection, the mysterious acts and mercies of man’s redemption, Christ’s triumph over death and all the powers of hell, the covenant of grace, or the blessed issues of repentance; and above all, the article of eternal life. This is the article that has made all the martyrs of Christ confident and glorious; and if it does not more than sufficiently strengthen our spirits to the present suffering, it is because we understand it not. But if the sick man fixes his thoughts here, he swells his hope, masters his fears, eases his sorrows, and overcomes his temptations. 3. Let the sick person be infinitely careful that his faith be not tempted by any man, or any thing; and when it is in any degree weakened, let him lay fast hold upon the conclusion, and by earnest prayer beg of God to guide him in certainty and safety. Consider that the article is better than all that is contrary or contradictory to it, and he is concerned that it is true, and concerned also that he does believe it. But he can receive no good at all if Christ did not die, if there be no resurrection; if his creed has deceived him. Therefore all that he is to do is to secure his hold, which he can do in no way but by prayer and by his interest. And by this argument or instrument it was that Socrates refreshed the evil of his condition, when he was to drink his aconite: “If the soul be immortal, and perpetual rewards be laid up for wise souls, then I lose nothing by my death; but if there is not, then I lose nothing by my opinion, for it supports my spirit in my passage, and the evil of being deceived cannot overtake me when I have no being.” So it is with all who are tempted in their faith. If those articles are not true, then the men are nothing; if they are true, then they are happy. And if the articles fail, there can be no punishment for believing; but if they are true, my not believing destroys my entire portion in them, and the possibility to receive the excellent things that they contain. By faith we “quench the fiery darts of the devil” (Eph. 6:16); but if our faith be quenched, with what shall we be able to endure the assault? Therefore seize upon the article, and secure the great object and the great instrument; that is, the hope of eternal life through Jesus Christ. Section III Rules for the Practice of Repentance in Sickness Let the sick man consider at what gate his sickness entered. If he can discover the particular, let him instantly, passionately, and with great contrition, dash the crime in pieces, lest he descend into his grave in the midst of a sin, and from there remove into an ocean of eternal sorrow. But if he only suffers the common fate of man, and knows not the particular inlet, he is to be governed by the following measures: 1. Supply the imperfections of your repentance with a general sorrow for the sins of your whole life: for all sins, known and unknown, repented and unrepented of; sins of ignorance or infirmity, which you know, or of which others have accused you; your clamorous and your whispering sins; the sins of scandal, and the sins of a secret conscience, of the flesh and of the spirit. 2. To this purpose it is usually advised by spiritual persons that the sick man should make a universal confession, or a repetition of all the particular confessions and accusations of his whole life; that now at the foot of his account he may represent the sum total to God and his conscience. 3. Now is the time beyond which the sick man must on no account defer to make restitution of all his unjust possessions, or other men’s rights, and satisfactions for all injuries and violences, according to his obligation and possibilities. 4. Let the sick person pour out many prayers of humiliation and contrition for all those sins which are spiritual, and in which no restitution or satisfaction can be made. For in some cases, penitential prayers are the only instances of repentance that can be made. If I have seduced a person who is dead or absent, and I cannot restore him to sober counsels by my discourse, and undeceiving him, I can only repent of that by way of prayer. And intemperance is no way to be rescinded or punished by a dying man but by hearty prayers. Section IV Of the Sick Man’s Practice of Charity and Justice, by Way of Rule 1. Let the sick man set his house in order before he dies: state his cases of conscience, reconcile the fractures of his family, reunite brethren, cause right understandings and remove jealousies, give good counsels for the future conduct of their persons and estates, charm them into religion by the authority and advantages of a dying person; because the last words of a dying man are like the tooth of a wounded lion, making a deeper impression in the agony than in the most vigorous strength. 2. Let the sick man discover every secret which he is acquainted with, of art, or profit, physic, or advantage to mankind, if he may do it without the prejudice of a third person. Some persons are so uncharitably envious, that they are willing that a secret receipt should die with them, and be buried in their grave, like treasure in the sepulcher of David. 3. Let him make his will with great justice and piety, that is, that the right heirs be not defrauded; and in those things where we have a liberty, that we take the opportunity of doing virtuously, that is, of considering how God may be best served by our donations, or how the interest of any virtue may be promoted; in which we are principally to regard the necessities of our nearest kindred and relatives, servants and friends. 4. It is proper for the state of sickness that we give alms in this state, so burying treasure in our graves that will not perish, but rise again in the resurrection of the just. Let the dispensation of our alms be as little entrusted to our executors as may be, except the lasting and successive portions; but with our own present care let us exercise the charity, and secure the stewardship. 5. In the intervals of sharper pains, when the sick man amasses together all the arguments of comfort, and testimonies of God’s love to him and care of him, he must find infinite matter of thanksgiving; and it is a proper act of love to God, and justice too, that he gives honor to God on his deathbed for all the blessings of his life, not only in general communications, but also those by which he has been distinguished from others, or supported and blessed in his own person. So even Cyrus did upon the tops of the mountains, when by a fantasy he was warned of his approaching death: Receive, [O God] my Father, these holy rites by which I put an end to many and great affairs; and I give you thanks for your celestial signs and prophetic notices, whereby you have signified to me what I ought to do, and what I ought not. I present also very great thanks that I have perceived and acknowledged your care of me, and have never exalted myself above my condition for any prosperous circumstance. And I pray that you will grant felicity to my wife, my children, and friends, and to me a death such as my life has been. When these parts of religion are finished, according to each man’s necessity, there is nothing remaining of personal duty to be done alone, but that the sick man act over these virtues by the renewing of devotion, and in the way of prayer; and that is to be continued as long as life, and voice, and reason dwell with us.