Purity of Heart, the Immediate Goal

To this he replied: Good. You have spoken cleverly about the final end. But what our immediate goal or mark should be, by keeping close to which we can reach that end, you ought to know first. When we frankly admitted that we did not know, he went on: The first thing in all the arts and sciences, as I said, is to have some goal, that is, a mark for the mind and a constant purpose of mind. For unless a man keeps this before him with all diligence and persistence, he will never succeed in reaching the final aim and the gain he desires. For, as I said, the farmer whose aim is to live free from care and in plenty has this as his immediate object and goal while his crops are coming up: to keep his field clear of all brambles and weeds. He does not imagine that he can secure wealth and a peaceful end in any other way, unless he first secures, by some plan of work and hope, what he is anxious to obtain. The businessman, too, does not lay aside the desire of acquiring the goods by which he may more profitably amass riches, because he would desire gain to no purpose unless he chose the road that leads to it. And those who are eager to be decorated with the honors of this world first make up their minds to what duties and conditions they must devote themselves, so that by the regular course of hope they may succeed in gaining the honors they desire.

So the end of our way of life is indeed the kingdom of God. But what the immediate goal is you must earnestly ask, for if it is not discovered by us in the same way, we will strive and wear ourselves out to no purpose. For a man traveling in the wrong direction has all the trouble of his journey and none of its good. And when we stood gaping at this remark, the old man went on: The end of our profession, as I said, is indeed the kingdom of God, or the kingdom of heaven. But the immediate aim or goal is purity of heart, without which no one can reach that end. Fixing our gaze steadily on this goal, then, as on a definite mark, let us steer our course as straight toward it as we can. And if our thoughts wander from it a little, let us bring our gaze back to it and check them carefully, as by a sure standard. This will always bring all our efforts back to this one mark, and will show at once if our mind has strayed ever so little from the direction marked out for it.