Fourteenth Day of Lent: The Journey with Patience

At the beginning of Passus XV, Will awakes from his encounter with Imagination and wanders about thinking on all the things that happened in his dream.  As he is musing upon these things (as tends to happen with Will) he falls asleep.  In his new dream he meets with Conscience and Theology, who tell him to get up and join them for a dinner with Reason.  Will joins them and sees a professor of theology is the distinguished guest.  He is not, however, the only guest:

            “There also came Patience as a poor thing and asked food for charity’s sake,

            And likewise also Piers the Plowman, as though he were a pilgrim,

            Begged and cried for the heavenly love of Christ above

            A square meal for a poor man, or money, if they had any.”

As the guests are seated and the meal begins, Will and Patience get put by themselves at a side table, and watch as the professor and other guests are given sumptuous courses while they are presented with meager fare.  Patience is more than happy with their food, but Will is not only envious, but angry, because he had just heard this professor preach from 2 Corinthians (11:24-29) on how we should all be ready to suffer for the gospel as St. Paul did.  Will asks the professor what he thinks about Dowel and the professor responds that Dowel is to love your neighbor as yourself.  At this point Patience cannot restrain Will any longer and he calls attention to the professor’s hypocrisy in not sharing his food with them.  As Conscience tries to smooth things over, Piers gives his opinion on the matter:  what matters most is that you love your enemies to the uttermost.  After speaking Piers departs, taking Reason with him.  Finally Patience speaks and recommends, well, patience.  The professor laughs at his impracticable solution and leaves the dinner with Theology in tow.

Conscience, however, is convinced by Patience and joins him and Will as they go on their way.  The trio soon comes upon an apprentice of Piers named Activa Vita (“the active life,” which in the middle ages meant those who conducted their lives in the world, as opposed to monks who lived “the contemplative life”).  He works hard, like Piers, to provide for the material needs of the community, but he does recognize that sometimes too much material comfort can be bad for the soul.  Responding to this, Patience tells him he has food which saves from hunger without inclining us to pride.

            “Then Active said, “Have you got such food always with you?”

            “Why yes,” said Patience, and out of his pack he took

            A piece of the Lord’s Prayer and offered it to us all.

            And I listened and looked what provision it was:

            It was “Thy will be done” that would provide for us all.”

Patience reminds them that “man does not live by bread alone,” and that God provided food for the people of Israel in the desert and for the prophet Elijah during a great drought.  Activa Vita objects that surely there is nothing wrong with rightfully acquiring material possessions and using them well, even if spiritual things are better.  Yes, Patience replies, but that is a much more difficult and treacherous path than the way of patient poverty.  Remember, he says, the parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man (Luke 16:19-31) and how that turned out.

The dinner which Reason gives in this passus is for me one of the most memorable scenes of Piers Plowman.  It is memorable, first of all, because it is so true to life:  all affluent Christians have at some point or other played the part of that hypocritical professor, talking a good game of “love thy neighbor” but oblivious to our actual neighbors in need.  And likewise, whenever we see such blatant hypocrisy we want to be like Will and have the courage to call it out (or perhaps when someone does call it out, we want to be like Conscience and smooth things over).

But it is also memorable because it is challenging.  In the midst of all this injustice and hypocrisy, Patience not only endures his hardship, but endures it gladly and encourages others to imitate him and share his way of life.  And then in the midst of all this Piers the Plowman stands up and goes even farther:  we must love our enemies, not just endure them.

What is your response when you recognize injustice?  What is your response when you suffer injustice?  If you’re anything like me, your first response would be the same as Will’s in this passus:  anger and indignation.  But Piers and Patience both recognize that this cannot be our only response, because they see that God’s response to the injustice of the world was not anger, but love, not indignation, but patience.  When the world made itself his enemy, God never failed to offer the world his love, and he endured patiently in this love even the cross on which the world put him to death.

But it will be some time before Will catches on to what Piers and Patience are getting at and so his journey (and ours) continues on.

“Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”  No, “if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.”  Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”  (Romans 12:19-21, quoting Deuteronomy 32:35 and Proverbs 25:21-22)