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Centuries

(image is of a reprint - Harper & Brothers, New York 1960)

Thomas Traherne was a 17th century anglican divine. He is more well known for his poetry, but this is a book of prose; spiritual reflections and meditations, each one about a paragraph long and divided into five chapters called "centuries". The title derives from the literary tradition of grouping reflections by hundreds.

"To contemn the world and to enjoy the world are things contrary to each other. How then can we contemn the world, which we are born to enjoy? Truly there are two worlds. One was made by God, the other by men. That made by God was great and beautiful. Before the Fall it was Adam's joy and the Temple of his Glory. That made by men is a Babel of Confusions: Invented Riches, Pomps and Vanities, brought in by Sin. Give all (saith Thomas a Kempis) for all. Leave the one that you may enjoy the other."