Blessed is the soul, dearest brothers, that can follow the Lord Jesus in all things—"wherever he goes" (Rev 14:4). It ascends into the rest of contemplation, peacefully occupied with seeing "that he is God" (Ps 46:10), and it descends through the exercise of charity, following him even to the point of humbling itself in service—embracing poverty, enduring hunger, thirst, fatigue, labor, tears, prayer, and compassion, and, ultimately, the Passion. For Christ came to be obedient even unto death, to serve rather than to be served, and to give—not gold or silver, but his teaching and his aid to the multitude, and his very life for the sake of the multitude (Mk 10:45)... Let this, then, be the model for your life, brothers, for this is the rule of a holy way of living: to dwell with Christ—in thought and desire—in the eternal homeland; and, for the sake of Christ, to withhold oneself from no act of charity within this harsh earthly exile. In following Christ as he ascends toward the Father, allow yourself to be drawn inward, simplified, and unified in the stillness of meditation; in following Christ as he descends toward our brother, allow yourself to be stretched out, shared, and divided—"becoming all things to all people" (1 Cor 9:22). Despise nothing that concerns Christ; concern yourself with nothing that is not for Christ. Thirst for him alone, attend to him alone—there where Christ alone exists—and willingly place yourself at the service of all, wherever his presence is multiplied (cf. Mt 25:35).