For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.
-- Colossians 3:3-5 (ESV)
C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity:
The essential vice, the utmost evil, is Pride. Unchastity, anger, greed, drunkenness, and all that, are mere fleabites in comparison: it was through Pride that the devil became devilish: Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind.
Augustine, Confessions:
Late have I loved you, beauty so old and so new: late have I loved you. And see, you were within and I was without, and there I sought you. And, deformed as I was, I ran after those beautiful things which you have made. You were with me, and I was not with you. Those things kept me far from you, which, unless they were in you, would not exist.
Augustine, On Christian Doctrine:
The death Paul speaks of in Colossians is not the cessation of the body but the killing of the old self -- that collection of disordered loves, appetites, and vanities that governed us before grace broke in. To be "hidden with Christ in God" is to live as one whose truest identity no longer belongs to the passing world. Augustine understood this: the Christian does not merely restrain the flesh; he buries it. He rises into a life that the world cannot see, cannot measure, and cannot take. The glory is deferred. The hiddenness is real. But the one who is hidden is held by God, and that is enough.
Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ:
He who would follow Christ must deny himself. His will must be made subject to the superior will. There is no other way. He who seeks anything for himself shall not find it; but he who seeks nothing for himself shall be free. Let this be your whole endeavor, this your prayer, this your desire -- that you be stripped of all selfishness and follow Jesus perfectly.
What are you protecting that belongs to the old self -- and how long do you intend to keep guarding it?
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, Book 4:
You have power over your mind -- not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength. The things you think about determine the quality of your mind. Your soul takes on the color of your thoughts. Choose accordingly.
St. Clair, MI -- Tuesday, July 21
High 83°F, low 55°F. Showers and thunderstorms likely through the afternoon (70% chance before 5 PM), then clearing overnight. West-southwest winds around 14 mph with gusts to 24 mph. Partly sunny breaks between storms. Patchy smoke possible early.