When ‘temperance’ driven by reason becomes excessively strict, issues of ‘sadism’ or ‘masochism’ can emerge. Temperance isn’t necessarily a positive trait. ‘Pleasure’ often plays a central role in relationships involving giving or receiving abuse. Although feelings vary among individuals, there is a connection between causing pain and deriving pleasure that satisfies the craving for pain. Some people find more satisfaction in inflicting pain, while others find fulfillment in enduring suffering. Our tendencies toward pain influence how we express our personality outwardly and how we protect ourselves inwardly. If you experience stress from ‘temperance,’ you need the right kind of experience to free yourself within healthy limits. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”
The medieval church forbade usury and claimed that usurers went to hell. However, as the feudal system of the Middle Ages declined and merchants emerged as an emerging power, usury businesses amassed enormous wealth. Usurers donated their corrupt wealth to monasteries, and when they died, they could be buried there. It was a bonus that the donor usurer could receive the sacrament of confession shortly before death. Fear of the afterlife caused poor churches to accumulate wealth, used to decorate walls or build larger, more elaborate structures, leading to the Renaissance era. The unjust usury business sparked a literary and artistic revival. Let go of the illusion that only good things can change the world for the better or the right. The innocence of ignorance about how the world works makes it easier to accept sin and corrupts the world into evil. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”