Miscellanies 10 - When tempted to sin

There was a man who wrote of his temptation and how he dealt with it. ‘I had awoken with an unwanted desire to satisfy my natural cravings which were contrary to the law of Christ. I had this bestial affection in me which lusted for the satisfaction which could quench its thirst. But I knew, being a man learned in the scriptures that this means of satisfaction was wrong. In time past, my desires had been so resilent that it overpowered me and often I succumb to that hellish satisfaction which wages war against my soul. Lately I have been a man moved by the Holy Spirit and awed by the invading nature of divine grace so that it appears tangibly that heaven is only at a arms reach. I was a heavenly man, having no care nor worry but only of that which was of the kingdom. But I woke with this foreign desire and I knew immediately I must not let it breathe. To combat this devilish craving I at once fled my bed and dwelt in the secret of a quiet place where I abruptly began to declare the praises of my king and meditate to him in prayer. I felt slowly but ever increasingly my cravings being satisfied and my soul was in a blissful paradise because it beheld the face of that glorious Lion who is the surpassing beauty of all there is and will be.'


K.Oni