Therefore
having stripped off
all dirty rags
and the surfeit of evil;
in humility
open yourself up to the word,
planted (in you)
which is able to save your souls.
But be doers of the word
and not only hearers,
deceiving yourselves.
For if someone is a hearer of the word
and not a doer,
they are a person
who observes their own face in a mirror.
For they observe themselves
and go away
and immediately
have forgotten what they are like.
But the one who
looking into the perfect law of freedom
and staying with (it)
being not a hearer who forgets
but a doer (who works)
this one will be blessed,
in their deed.
If someone thinks they are religious,
while not bridling their tongue,
but deceives their heart,
such a person’s religion is meaningless.
Religion
pure and undefiled
before God
who is Father
is
to care for orphans and widows,
in their troubles,
(and) to keep oneself unsoiled by the world.
Thank you, dear Jesus,
for all you have given me,
for all you have taken away from me,
for all you have left me.
Thomas More (c.1478-1535)