Can I do this if it feels right?

Can I do this if it feels right? Is this pleasure not harmless as it involves only me? No one will be affected by my thoughts. Only I will be involved in this process and only I will be transformed by it.

Can I not use my body anyway I want? Is this not my body? Are these not my organs? Have I not been given this organ so that I may use it for my pleasure? Is this not an organ of pleasure?

Who is He that claims my body as His own? Who is He that decrees that my organs be consecrated to Him? What does He want with me? Why does He come to live within me?

Who is He Who will lord over me? What do I gain by surrendering to His will? What do I lose by rejecting Him? Why does He demand the thing that is most difficult to give? Why does He take away that which pleases the most?

Why does He want the sacrifice? Why does He demand the body? Why does He command the parts to be sacred? Why does He commend the pain and denounce the pleasure?

What is the purpose of this mastery? What is the point of this conflict? Will happiness result from tears? Will joy ensue from pain? Will life emerge from death?

This is the promise. If I die for the One who demands my life, I will live. If I give up my temporary joy in which I can find no fulfilment, I shall receive a permanent joy in which I shall be fulfilled forever.

Shall I believe in this promise? Shall I give up what I can see and feel for what I cannot? Shall I make the Lord my Lord? Shall I submit in faith or withdraw by instinct? Shall I live now and die later? Or shall I die now and live forever?

- Samuel Godfrey George