The One Thing That Is Needed

What, then, is that one thing which stands so incomparably above all those great and countless good things that, while they are all scorned and set aside, it alone should be gained? Without doubt it is that truly good part whose greatness and lasting worth the Lord describes, when Mary set aside the duties of hospitality and courtesy and chose it: “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things. But few things are needed, or even only one. Mary has chosen the good part, which will not be taken away from her.” Contemplation, then, that is, meditation on God, is the one thing whose worth all the merits of our righteous deeds and all our striving after virtue fall short of. [a]

All those things that we said were found in the apostle Paul were not only good and useful but even great and splendid. But take an example. A base alloy is thought to have some use and value, yet it becomes worthless once silver is taken into account. The value of silver in turn vanishes beside gold, and gold itself is disregarded when it is compared with precious stones. And yet a heap of precious stones, however splendid, is outdone by the brightness of a single pearl. In the same way, all those merits of holiness are good and useful not only for the present life; they also win the gift of eternity. And still, if they are compared with the merit of contemplating God, they will be counted trifling and, so to speak, fit to be sold.

To support this comparison with the authority of Scripture: does not Scripture speak of all the things in general that God created, and say, “And behold, everything that God had made was very good”? And again: “The things God has made are all good in their season.” In the present time these things are called not simply and only good, but emphatically “very good.” For they really are suited to us while we live in this world, whether for the needs of life, or as remedies for the body, or for some usefulness we do not know. Or else they are indeed “very good” because, from this great and orderly arrangement of the structure of the world, they let us “see the invisible things of God from the created things of the world, understood through the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead,” and let us contemplate those things from the existence of everything in the world. Yet none of these things will keep the name of good if they are seen in the light of the world to come, where no change in good things and no loss of true blessedness need be feared. The happiness of that world is described this way: “The light of the moon will be like the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, like the light of seven days.”

So these things, great and wonderful to look at and marvelous as they are, will at once appear as vanity if they are compared with the promises that faith holds out for the future. As David says: “They will all grow old like a garment, and like clothing you will change them, and they will be changed. But you are the same, and your years will not fail.” For nothing is lasting in itself, nothing is unchangeable, nothing is good but the Godhead alone. Every creature reaches for the blessing of eternity and changelessness not by its own nature but by sharing in its Creator and in his grace. That is why created things cannot keep their character of goodness when they are compared with their Creator.