Page:From Passion to Peace - Allen - 1910.djvu/30



can carry a man into heaven, but to remain there he must learn to conform his entire mind to the heavenly conditions: to this end temptation works.

Temptation is the reversion, in thought, from purity to passion. It is a going back from aspiration to desire. It threatens aspiration until the point is reached where desire is quenched in the waters of pure knowledge and calm thought. In the early stages of aspiration, temptation is subtle and powerful, and is regarded as an enemy; but it is only an enemy in the sense that the tempted one is his own enemy. In the sense that it is the revealer of weakness and impurity, it is a friend, a necessary factor in spiritual training. It is, indeed, an accompaniment of the effort to overcome evil and apprehend good. To be successfully conquered, the evil in a man must come to the