I do not understand why women complain of submitting to their husbands; truly, it is my sanity! Where would I be without his ability to ground me with logic? To stabilize me with his deep even keel? To hold firm when I waver?
Mary and Jesus saw their sufferings as gifts. Suffering is a privilege. Ah, the perspective of one without sin! Yet you, little soul, must attain it through the grace of God.
The seed must fall to the ground to bear fruit. Indeed, so we find that our falls can bear much fruit, if only we will die to ourselves and live for Christ. If the seed falls but does not die to itself, then it remains a seed with no life within.