48. A Corrupted Moral Compass

Deios 2:1

If a person is physically ill, something bitter might taste sweet and vice versa. Some sick people even crave things that are not fit to eat, like dirt, and they spurn nutritious foods like bread and meat. Similarly, some people whose morals are corrupt love bad traits. They despise the good path and are too lazy to follow it. Isaiah 5:20 speaks of such people, saying “Woe to those people who call the bad good and the good bad, who think that darkness is light and light is darkness, who think the bitter is sweet and the sweet is bitter.” Proverbs 2:13 calls such people “The ones who leave the paths of the upright to walk in the ways of darkness.”

The cure for such moral corruption is to consult wise people, who are the healers of souls. They will heal the corrupted by teaching them how to acquire proper traits, which will bring them back to the good path. Regarding people who recognize their own bad traits but who refrain from seeking help from the wise to heal them, Proverbs 1:7 says, “Fools despise wisdom and guidance.”

Deios 2:2

Here is how such people are treated: We tell an angry person to train himself not to react even if he should be beaten or cursed. He should follow this course of action for a long time, until the trait of anger is gone from his heart. A person who is full of himself should expose himself to disgrace. He should sit in the most humble places, wear tattered clothes that shame a person, etc., until his egotism has been removed from his heart and he returns to proper path.

The same course of action should be followed with all other traits. If a person has gone too far to one extreme, he should move in the direction of the opposite extreme. He should train himself in the other extreme for a long time until he re-centers himself on the proper path, which is the midpoint of every characteristic.