I would teach you from Holy Scripture how to profit by the terror,
how to thank God for the terror, instead of being afraid of it, as
you otherwise certainly will be. For these ugly dreams, these sad
thoughts do come, whether you choose or not. Whether you choose or
not, you all have, or will have seasons of depression, of anxiety, of
melancholy. Shall they teach you, or merely terrify you? Shall they
only bring remorse, or shall they bring repentance?
Remorse. In that is nothing but pain. A man may see all the wrong
and folly he has done; he may fret over it, torment himself with it,
curse himself for it, and yet be the worse, and not the better, for
what he sees. If he be a strong-minded man, he may escape from
remorse in the bustle of business or pleasure. If he be a weak-
minded man, he may escape from it in drunkenness, as hundreds do; or
he may fall into melancholy, superstition, despair, suicide.
But if his sadness breeds, not remorse, but repentance--that is, in
one word, if instead of keeping his sins to himself, he takes his
sins to God--then all will be well. Then he will not be afraid of
the terror, but thankful for it, when he knows that it is what St.
Paul calls, the terror of the Lord.
This is why the old Psalmists were not afraid of the terror by night;
because they knew that their anxiety had come from God, and therefore
went to God for forgiveness, for help, for comfort.
Pages:
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156