grass;" [1] my life is a breath of wind, and as " a vapour" that soon passes; and it is " short* ' and " filled" (as Job says) with many " miseries," [2] and necessities of hunger, cold, grief, infirmity, poverty, and dangers of death. It has no security of one day of life, nor of rest, nor of health; so that by my own strength it is impossible to free myself from these miseries, unless Almighty God our Lord, with His protection and providence, defend and deliver me from them.
2. Now what greater madness can there be than for a man so needy and miserable to dare to offend his only Helper and Protector? And what greater madness can there be than for the flesh, being but dust and ashes, a filthy dunghill, a swarm of worms and rottenness itself, to presume to injure the supreme Spirit of immense majesty, before whom the powers and all the other blessed spirits tremble?
Colloquy. — O "earth and ashes," why art Thou so "proud" [3] against Almighty God? O vessel of clay, how dost' thou gainsay thy Maker? [4] O miserable flesh, if thou so much fearest man that can deprive thee of thy temporal life, without doing thee any greater harm, how dost thou not tremble at God, who can deprive thee of eternal life, and cast thee into the fire of hell? Return into thyself, and, if it were but for thine own interest, cease to offend Him who can free thee from so many evils.
3. With these considerations I must greatly confound and terrify myself that have fallen into such madness, and have been so exceedingly fool-hardy; and beseech Christ Jesus our Lord that by His most holy flesh He will pardon this audaciousness of mine, and reduce it hereafter to reason.
