Stay with it

Picture source.

If birds stop beating their wings, they quickly fall to the ground. Unless your soul works at holding itself up, your flesh will drag it down.

You must renew your determination regularly.

Oddly, a spiritual crash leaves us lower than when we began.

Clocks need winding, cleaning, and oiling. Sometimes they need repair. Similarly, we must care for our spiritual life by examining and servicing our hearts at least annually.

There is plenty of time for other things. You do not have to do it all every day.

Stay with it. Time flies away. Keep your eyes on heaven. Don't throw it away for earthly things. Look at Jesus Christ and be faithful to him.

Live, Jesus! To whom, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, be all honor and glory, now and forevermore. Amen.


--St. Francis de Sales,
Introduction to the Devout Life

Patience

Sunrise in winter.

The rising of devotion in an ordinary soul is like the dawning of a new day. Darkness is not driven away immediately. Light comes in small increments, moment by moment. The saying is that a slow cure is best. Sicknesses of the soul are like those of the body. They come galloping in on horseback, but depart slowly on foot.

Have courage and by patient. Many see themselves as still imperfect after trying to be devout a long time. The opposite temptation is far more hazardous. Some figure everything is fixed on the first day! They have scarcely begun. They want to fly without wings. They are taking a great risk of relapse if they stop seeing the doctor too soon.

Purging the soul is a lifetime effort. There is no reason to be upset by our imperfections. Perfection is nothing more than fighting against them. How can we resist them unless we see them? How can we overcome them unless we face them?

--St. Francis de Sales
The Introduction to the Devout Life