Our emotions hold more power over us than blade or poison alike. To embrace freely the entire spectrum of our emotions is to allow a multitude of Trojan horses containing hidden emotional poisons to circumvent the walls of rationalization – walls we need to protect our trust, confidence, understanding, and self-control.
The best lightning rod for your protection is your own spine.
When I save, I lay something aside for future need. If I sense God's leading, I will give it away to meet greater needs. When I hoard, I'm unwilling to part with what I've saved to meet others' needs, because my possible future needs outweigh their actual present needs. I fail to love my neighbor as myself.
In El-harím, there lived a man, a man with yellow eyes.
To me, he said, "Beware the whispers, for they whisper lies.
Do not wrestle with the demons of the dark,
Else upon your mind they'll place a mark;
Do not listen to the shadows of the deep,
Else they haunt you even when you sleep.