Wesley on Kempis

I read a couple of months out of John Wesley's Journal every morning - a part of my daily reading discipline that is both spiritual edifying and helpful to my academic work. Last week I came across a reference by Wesley to Thomas a Kempis' Imitation of Christ. Wesley quotes Kempis as he reports his pastoral engagement with some struggling members of one of the Methodist societies:

Friday, May 5, 1749 - "This day and the next I endeavoured to see all the rest who were weary and faint in their minds. Most of them, I found, had not been used with sufficient tenderness. Who is there that sufficiently weighs the advice of Kempis, 'Noli duriter agere cum tentato'? - 'Deal not harshly with one that is tempted.'"

The reference comes from Book I, Chapter 13, of the Imitation of Christ. Kempis goes on to say the following in that same chapter:

"Some suffer great temptations int he beginning of their conversion, others toward the end, while some are troubled almost constantly throughout their life. Others, again, are tempted but lightly according to the wisdom and justice of Divine Providence. Who weighs the status and merit of each and prepares all for the salvation of His elect."

"We should not despair, therefore, when we are tempted, but pray to God the more fervently that He may see fit to help us, for according to the word of Paul, He will make issue with temptation that we may be able to bear it. Let us humble our souls under the hand of God in every trial and temptation for He will save and exalt the humble in spirit."

"In temptations and trials the progress of a man is measured; in them opportunity for merit and virtue is made more manifest."

"When a man is not troubled it is not hard for him to be fervent and devout, but if he bears up patiently in time of adversity, there is hope for great progress."

As I continue to read through both Wesley's Journal and Kempis' Imitation of Christ, I can see why the former was so drawn to the latter's meditation on the Christian life. He seemed to see not only a spiritual writer who spoke to his own life & ministry, but also one who offered a keen insight into the joys and struggles that all followers of Jesus face in this life.