But is not this a worry, a continual torment? No; not if the moving spring be love or godly fear....
Do you consider it a trouble when you make yourself less comfortable to make room for a friend who visits you?
Well! there are times when God would make you sensible of His Presence. He is with you, and to retain [pg 099] Him close, Who is all Purity, will you not be more modest in your behavior?
If you would receive Him into your heart at Holy Communion, will you not make room for Him, by rooting out that affection He has pointed out to you as dangerous, that interest, that desire, that worldly, sensual attachment?
Oh! if you only really loved.
Would you call it torture or constraint, the energy with which you shatter some poisoned cup you were almost enticed to drink?
Well! when encountering the attractive enjoyment, the material delight, which might lead you astray, or the siren voice which would allure you from your duty for a moment—then when conscience whispers, "Beware," ... would you be cowardly?
Alas, it is slowly and surely that the stream carries on to destruction the blossom that has fallen into its current.
It is little by little that pleasure leads on to sin the heart that lets itself be lulled by its charms.