He’s Your Friend
Tell God all that is in your heart as one unloads one’s heart, its pleasures and it pains, to a dear friend. Tell Him your troubles that he may comfort you; tell Him your joys that He may sober them; tell Him your longings that He may purify them; tell Him your dislikes that He may help you overcome them; talk to Him of your temptations that He may shield you from them; show Him the wounds of your heart that He may heal them; lay bare your indifference to good, your depraved tastes for evil; tell Him how vanity tempts you to be insincere, how pride disguises you to yourself and others. Tell Him – He’s your friend.
François Fénelon
Seventeenth / early eighteenth century