Timely quote from St. Francis de Sales

I, for one, am very attached to this "pretty planet spinning in space" (a lyric from a song M used to sing when she was at our parish preschool), so it is a constant battle for me to pray and fast as I ought. Of course, it is a form of praise to our Creator to see the beauty of creation in and around us. At the same time, our God, who is all good, wants us to know that we are just pilgrims passing through. We are, as Walker Percy wrote, trying to make sense of it all by decoding what he calls "signposts in a strange land." I guess the point is that the more we strive to live for Heaven, then the stranger this world appears. We ought to be outcasts of sorts if we take the Gospel counsels seriously. Serious evangelists still find time to laugh and play, but ideally, are ready to turn on a dime, ready to drop their nets and follow Him, even when it is most inconvenient. So, since I signed up for Facebook, I have not checked in with my fellow Catholic mom bloggers. Not long ago, I was over here and found this link to daily quotes from St. Francis de Sales. It is timely for me so I throw it out hoping it will encourage someone else too:

Self-love dies only when our body dies, so we must, while we
live in this land of exile, continue to counterattack its assaults on
our senses and its underhanded tactics. It is enough if we firmly
withstand, giving no willful or deliberate consent ... When we feel
within ourselves the first movements of self-love or of other passions,
let us prostrate ourselves immediately before the heart of God and tell
Him, in a spirit of confidence and humility, "Lord, have mercy on me
because I am a very weak creature." Then let us tranquilly rest in peace and put ourselves at God's disposal. (Letters 1675; O. XIX, pp. 272-273)