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Chapter 14

The Son says: ”Why are you afraid and anxious that the devil may insert things into the words of the Holy Spirit? Have you ever heard of anyone who kept his tongue safe and sound by placing it between the teeth of an angry lion? Has anyone ever sucked sweet honey from the tail of a snake? No, never. Now what does the lion or snake symbolize if not the devil - a lion in evil and a snake in cunning? What does the tongue symbolize if not the consolation of the Holy Spirit? What does it mean to place one's tongue between the teeth of a lion if not to utter the words of the Holy Spirit - who appeared in the shape of a tongue - in order to gain human favor and praise? Anyone who speaks God's praises for human gratification has surely been bitten and deceived by the devil, because those words, though they come from God, are not coming from a mouth that has the love of God, and so that person's tongue, that is, the consolation of the Holy Spirit, will be taken away from him or her. However, a person who desires nothing but God, and finds all worldly affairs bothersome, whose body does not seek to see or hear anything but what comes from God, whose soul rejoices in the infusion of the Holy Spirit, such a person cannot be deceived, for the evil spirit yields to the good spirit and does not dare to approach it.

What does sucking honey from a snake's tail mean if not waiting for the consolation of the Holy Spirit to come from the suggestions of the devil? That consolation will never come, because the devil would rather let himself be slain a thousand times over than offer any word of consolation to a soul the utterance of which might lead the soul to the meaning of life. Fear not, for God, who began a good work with you, will carry it through to a good end. But know that the devil is like an unleashed dog that comes running to you with his temptations and suggestions when he sees you lacking the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. However, if you should place a hard object in his way to hurt or paralyze his teeth, he will immediately leap away from you and will not harm you. The hard object placed in the devil's way signifies divine charity and obedience to God's commands. When the devil sees that these virtues are perfect in you, his teeth, that is, his attempts and his intention, will immediately be frustrated, because he sees that you would suffer anything rather than go against God's commands.”

Christ's words to the bride about why the good suffer in this life while the bad prosper, and how God shows her through a parable that he sometimes promises temporal goods but that these should be taken to mean spiritual goods, and about why God has not predicted every single event to happen at particular times, although all times and seasons are known to him.

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