VII. Where the Compass Spins

There are times when through confusion, temptation, or weakness, the mind cannot with any sureness detect the reasonable truth of God. It may be moral, as when temptation befuddles the mind and makes the body want one thing though the Spirit does not want that thing. Under the stress of immediate temptation, the mind cannot get traction to think through the problem without the emotions holding an infinite sway against its inner discourse. One should try thinking oneself out of a fit of anger, not from irritation, but from actual moral wrong committed by another against oneself. Does the operation of the mind in this moment suffice to cool the desire for local justice in the body? The mind knows information that should stop the anger (forgive others as God in Christ has forgiven you). But the wheels spin when the mind tries to climb that hill, and it gets no traction over the passions. Does greed ever stop gnawing at a person when they realize the rich are the most miserable people on the planet? The mind knows money does not equal happiness. But there is an affectional pull towards material wealth as an emotional answer even if it is not a logical answer to ultimate happiness. In another case, sometimes the logical proofs of God's existence are clear to the rational center of one's brain, but circumstances, despair, and incongruousness in perceived justice or fairness make one doubtful or scared that there is no god.
Why does the compass spin during this instance? Why does the feeble mind give up his ghost so easily when the emotions begin to tug at his hem? What would allow us to restore a sense of direction to the mind during temptation? What would allow us to feel where God is, when we can't feel God within? The compass spins for a reason, one cannot tell North when the arrow is always stuck in one direction. By having a spinning compass we gain malleability in our lives, but we also gain mutability. There are times we decipher the pulls and tugs of forces outside of us for the true way, yet we end up east or west of our mark. Yet the compass does not always spin amiss. By wandering, sometimes we find the lost path. And even on the wrong path, the compass eventually turns back northward.