It is seldom that any of our character flaws disappear by the force of mental deter- mination. But what cannot be destroyed may be dispossessed—and one taste may be made to give way to another, and to lose its power as the reigning affection in the mind. It is thus that the boy ceases at length to be a slave of his appetite, but it is because another taste has brought it into subordination. The youth ceases to idolize pleasure, but it is because the idol of wealth has…gotten the ascendancy. Even the love of money can cease to have mastery over the heart because it is drawn into the whirl of politics and he is now lorded over by a love of power. But there is not one of these transformations in which the heart is left without an object. Its desire for one particular object is conquered—but its desire to have some object…is unconquerable…

The only way to dispossess the heart of an old affection is by the expulsive power of a new one. It is only when the heart is brought under the mastery of one great and predominant affection that it is delivered from the tyranny of its former desires, and the only way that deliverance is possible. Thus it is not enough to hold out to the world the mirror of its own imperfections. It is not enough to come forth with a demonstration of the evanescent character of your enjoyments…to speak to the conscience…of its follies… Rather, try every legitimate method of finding access to your hearts for the love of Him who is greater than the world. – Thomas Chalmers

FINALLY. A weekend. I've been needing this for like a freakin month. I am going to have a weekend. I've got a room to clean and a lesson to write for Sunday and church to go to and lots of football to watch, and I am going to love every minute of it. A weekend, with no work. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Late link but if you have a chance, try to check out at least one of the many opportunities around the 5 boroughs offered by Open House New York. This is an awesome once-a-year event put on by Target and it keeps sneaking up on me because its drastically under-promoted. Not sure if I'm going to be able to make it to any of the tours this weekend, but there's one at the Chrysler building and one on the architecture of Times Square, either of which I think I'd like to see. The Times Square one is late in the evening, but that could be fun, learning about the infrastructure that hides behind the neon - seeing what the tourists are missing. In the rain. If I go, I will finally get the camera out, because I need to take some pictures with that stupid thing. That pretty much means I'm not going to get around to going.

I like the rain. Tonight I ran in the rain. It was great.