Day 315, Morning
Today’s morning meditation is available below in audio and script formats. The audio version is also available for free download on the player.
Reading
Before us are life and death, good and evil. That which we shall choose shall be given us.
—Ecclesiasticus
Quiet
As your day begins, spend a few moments in silence and stillness.
Commentary
The capacity to discriminate between right desires and wrong desires is very precious. Right desires benefit everyone – including ourselves. Wrong desires may be pleasing, but they benefit no one – again, not even ourselves. The criteria are simple to state, but not so simple to apply in everyday life.
The problem that arises is that wrong desires can be very skillful impersonators. They put on a three-piece suit and a false mustache and present themselves suavely as Mr. Right, the benefactor of all; if they happen to be just what we like, that is only happy coincidence. To live wisely, we need to be able to recognize right desires and yield to them, which is a pleasant but rare state of affairs. But much more important, we need to be able to recognize wrong desires and resist them.
This can be very difficult. There are times when we have to take on the desire face to face, like a boxer in the ring. The very attitude of resisting in the face of a wrong desire is the beginning of good health, vitality, and love. (WLB)
Podcast Feeds
Abbreviations
(BC) The Belgic Confession
(CAC) The Center For Action & Contemplation
(CD) The Canons of Dort
(CIB) Church In Bethesda Prayers
(DZ) Donna Z.
(HC) The Heidelberg Catechism
(IO) Inward Outward
(MAO) Michael A. O’Sullivan
(NT) The New Testament
(OT) The Old Testament
(RP) Ryan Phipps
(TAO) The Tao Te Ching
(WC) The Westminster Confession
(WLB) Words To Live By
(WLC) The Westminster Larger Catechism
(WSC) The Westminster Shorter Catechism