In order that joy may reign in the heart, the heart must first
repose in the bosom of Divine Providence--free from the pressure of
doleful souvenirs, and from the pestering desires stirred up by
vanity; in a word, exempt from every obstacle, whether intrinsic or
extrinsic, that might in any way oppose the designs of God. But,
alas! by some unaccountable inconsistency, we are in contradiction
with ourselves; for, notwithstanding our great desire to live, and
our horror of death, still we seem to be in a hurry with the time to
pass, as though we advanced too slowly to the grave.
Now, we are well aware that of this lifetime the present is all that
we can claim, the past and future being in the hands of God; still,
true to the same principle of inconsistency we make little or no use
of the present, it is something annoying that we wish, to get over,
as quickly as possible, while we are absorbed by a countless
multitude of useless but importunate desires relative to the past,
which we can never recall, and the future, which perhaps we shall
never see.
Hence, as we journey onward in this way, we must naturally find
ourselves a prey to fears and doubts, sometimes suspended between
hope and despondency, while the heart is harassed by corroding
desires that succeed each other like waves on a tempest-driven sea.
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