Science has proved that emotion adversely affects our bodily metabolism. Response means change. However, any alteration of our nature should be the result of responding to the inside, not reacting to the outside.

When we become angry or frightened, certain glands are stimulated to prepare our body to meet the threat by changing its chemistry.

You might say,“Surely this is normal!” I would reply, “Yes, it is, but only to resolve the problems of natural stress.”

Even then, if the action we take is to be truly human, it must have its roots in reason and not in emotions.

It should be markedly different from the unmodified emotional response of the growing animal. Through our egocentric need for excitement and resentment, our conscience is loosened from the soil of reason, weakened to become unduly affected by nature in an animal-like way.

Our mind darkens; our flesh becomes brutish. When we allow ourselves to be led down from reason by temptation, we set off metabolic changes in our bodies that lead to degeneration and the arousing of animal lusts.

We may grow afraid to meet new situations because of their effect upon our nature, for once we have forsaken the way of reason, the indiscretion of our lusts causes us to become involved with the wrong people who allow us to express our lust without shame.

"As our soul becomes subject to temptation, our body becomes subject to disease."

The release from shame whets our desires even more. And so it goes until we are pock-marked by pressure. Instead of bringing forth good, we become herded and programmed like evolving beasts.

Our rundown condition invites disease. Yet the proud mind adjusts to each change and justifies and defends it with anger. In its newer but more degenerate state, it is still more susceptible to the call of temptation.

We fight our sickness with the same energy of anger. As our soul becomes subject to temptation, our body becomes subject to disease.

Paradoxically, our only immunity is to drugs and to the truth. Through uncontrolled fear, the clotting level of our blood falls to dangerous extremes.

We begin to smoke, drink and take pills—then more pills to cancel out the effect of pills—all to make us feel better without being better as

persons. Solutions beget problems endlessly.

We cannot accept responsibility for foolish decisions and failures, so we seek advice from people who lead us further away from functioning from our higher self, which in turn leads to greater confusion.

We cherish the weakness that led to our original fall, secretly reserving the right to blame the temptation when the chips are down.

Learn to stand up under cruelty without resentment. If you accomplish this, after the real stress has passed, your entire nature is strengthened by your experience and others will be glad that you remained calm.