Did not Mary Magdalene immediately rise from the place where she was weeping when Martha said to her, the teacher is here and is calling for you? Happy that hour when Jesus calls us from tears to spiritual joy. How dry and listless you are when Jesus is not with you. It is vain and foolish for you to desire anything other than Jesus. To lose him is to suffer a greater loss than to lose the whole world. What has the world to offer you without Jesus? To be without Jesus is a painful hell, but to be with him is a sweet paradise. If Jesus is with you, no enemy can harm you. Whoever finds Jesus discovers a wonderful treasure, a treasure above all others and he who loses Jesus loses a great deal more than the entire world. The man who lives without Jesus is the poorest of the poor, but he who has Jesus as his friend is the richest of men. Whom will you now seek as your friend? Without a friend, you can hardly live your life and if Jesus is not your friend above all friends, then indeed you shall be sad and lonely. You are a fool to place your trust in other men and to rejoice in them. You should be willing to have the whole world against you rather than offend Jesus. Of all those whom you hold dear, let Jesus alone be your most special friend. Thomas a Kempis.