chard
Raynal, a trinity of natures in man. There is that by which he has to do
with the things of matter--his five wits; that by which he has to do
with God Almighty and the saints--his immortal soul and her powers; and,
for the last, that by which he has to do with men--his lower
understanding, his mind, his power of speech, and the like. Each nature
has its proper end, though each ministers to the other. With his ears
he hears God's Word, with his immortal soul he perceives God Almighty in
what is seen with the eyes; with his understanding he comprehends the
nature of flowers and the proper time to sow or reap. This trinity may
be devoted to God or the fiend.... It is not true, as some have said,
that it is only with the soul that God is perceived or served, and that
the other two are unclean. We may serve God by digging with the hands,
by talking friendly with our neighbour, and by the highest of all which
is contemplation.

This is what Master Richard did, following the Victorines but not
altogether. He strove to serve God alike in all, and I count his life,
therefore, the highest that I have ever known. He said that to dig, to
talk over the gate with a neighbour, and to contemplate the Divine
Essence, were all alike to serve God. He counted none wasted, for God
Almighty had made the trinity of natures in His own image, and
intended, therefore, a proper occupation for each. To refuse to dig or
to talk was not to honour contemplation; and this he said, though he
said besides that some could not do this through reason of finding that
one distracted the other. I count, however, that his own life was the
hardest, for he did all three, and did not suffer one to distract
another.

The most difficulty of such a life is to know when to follow one and
when the other, when to dig, when to speak, and when to contemplate; and
he would tell me that for this there are two guides that God Almighty
sends--the one is that of exterior circumstance, and the other that of
an interior knowledge, and he would follow that which cried the louder.
If he desired to contemplate and a neighbour came to talk with him; if
he perceived the neighbour clearly he would give over his contemplation;
if not he would continue to contemplate. Again, if the imagination of a
spade came mightily before him, or if he remembered that the sun would
soon be up and his beans not watered, again he would give over his
contemplation and dig or carry water.

For