Desire without innocence is lust whereby the 'other' is assumed but is internally directed: it is madness in its infancy. As it matures, it is apparent that nothing and no one is enough, there is is no true satisfaction, it hungers without end. Thus and then comes the stronghold of bitterness, the statehood of disappointed idolatry. Also the heir of lust but kept to the self, not 'other' desired. From this, the absence of innocent desire is apparent in the beginning whereby the 'other' is ostensibly esteemed. Hereby is temper, that quick anger which is without compassion. Compassion is 'fellowship, in and with suffering.' Only the innocent can truly suffer; the wicked may only know torment and dissatisfaction. The distinction between suffering and torment is virtue: the principle is in the source and direction of their pains. One is loss of fellowship and love; the other is self-concern and a distinctive loss of feeling, it is apathetic, the end conclusion of hatred. In my love for God, am I more sensitive to His Spirit or less today then yesterday? Am I inclined toward madness, the clutches of Hell or Rest, the embrace of Heaven?
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