April 4  PEACE OF SOUL 

This true, interior soul-peace was known to the mystics as serenity, and they are never tired of telling us that serenity is the grand passport to the Presence of God—the sea as smooth as glass that is round about the Great White Throne. This is not to say that one cannot tackle even the most serious difficulties by prayer without having any serenity at all. But before you can make any true spiritual progress you must achieve serenity.

April 8  THE TEMPLE OF SOLOMON IVORY, APES, AND PEACOCKS 

Then comes the ivory. This stands for undue attachment to a particular teacher, a particular textbook, or a particular church or other organization. It is a mistaken loyalty. It is an unselfish error, but a deadly one. Any religious teacher or writer, however eminent, any church or center, however much beloved, is still but a means to an end. The end itself is spiritual growth. You must feel free at any time to go wherever you get the most help, irrespective of personal considerations. 

The ape stands for bodily temptations such as sensuality, addiction to drink, drugs, and so forth. These things are so obvious that the victim cannot deceive himself about them, so that at least he knows where he stands. They can, of course, be overcome by systematic prayer. 

The peacock stands for vanity. Vanity may take the form of intellectual pride, or of a snobbish attitude, or the desire to stand in with what is fashionable and powerful. It also includes spiritual pride on the part of those who really are in Truth, and this is worse than any of the other forms. 

Fox, Emmet. Around the Year with Emmet Fox . Harper One. Kindle Edition. (Excerpt)

The term happy cannot belong to him who lacks what he loves, whatever it may be; or to him mwho has what he loves, if it is hurtful; or to him who does not love what he has, although it is good in perfection. For one who seeks what he cannot have suffers torture; and one who has what is not desirable is cheated; and one who does not seek what is worth seeking is diseased. - St Augustine

The Way of the Fathers, Mike Aquilina