How to Avoid Drifting

Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen writes, “One of the finest chapters in the ten-volume Study of History by Arnold Toynbee is the one on the ‘Sense of Drift.’  He defines it as carelessness about the loss of spiritual and moral growth….The most tragic cases of drifting are those who have had the most talents and perhaps even a high standard of virtue.  Corruptio optima pessima: ‘The corruption of the best is the worst.’  The fair and pure lily smells the foulest when it loses its freshness.  As Shakespeare put it: ‘Loathsome canker lives in sweetest bud.’”