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THE fear of the Lord is our cross. As then one who is crucified no
longer has the power of moving or turning his limbs in any direction as he
pleases, so we also ought to affix our wishes and desires--not in
accordance with what is pleasant and delightful to us now, but in
accordance with the law of the Lord, where it constrains us. And as he who
is fastened to the wood of the cross no longer considers things present,
nor thinks about his likings, nor is perplexed by anxiety and care for the
morrow, nor disturbed by any desire of possession, nor inflamed by any
pride or strife or rivalry, grieves not at present injuries, remembers not
past ones, and while he is still breathing in the body considers that he is
dead to all earthly things, sending the thoughts of his heart on before
to that place whither he doubts not that he is shortly to come: so we also,
when crucified by the fear of the Lord ought to be dead indeed to all these
things, i.e. not only to carnal vices but also to all earthly things,
having the eye of our minds fixed there whither we hope at each moment
that we are soon to pass. For in this way we can have all our desires and
carnal affections mortified.
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