Contrary to what some people might believe, there is nothing wrong with having pleasures and enjoyments. What is wrong is the confused way we grasp onto these pleasures, turning them from a source of happiness into a source of pain and dissatisfaction. — Lama Thubten Yeshe, “Introduction to Tantra”
I believe it was St. Augustine who said, “Total abstinence is easier than perfect moderation.” The Lama’s words follow up on Augustine’s words and there is very little I can say to improve on them. All of us have taken a pleasure in life and turned it into a source of pain, and I’m not talking just about drinking too much and waking up with a hangover. It is very easy to let a worldly pleasure turn into an obsession or addiction. How many people do you know have turned making money from a way to provide for food, family, and giving joy to others to an obsession with accumulating wealth. They get no pleasure out of using money in the way God intended.
I have no doubt that God means for our life to be full of joy and pleasure. What we should examine in ourselves and in our life is what joys and pleasures have we turned into sources of pain and dissatisfaction, and seek God’s help in making them bring us joy and pleasure once again.
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