Longing not only sees the heavenly visions, but is obedient to them, and strives to realize them. It struggles up toward the excellence that shines before it: it seeks to attain the fine qualities which it admires. It is not satisfied with good resolves, but sets forward to make them come true. When Joan of Arc was asked what virtue she supposed dwelt in her white standard that made it so victorious, she replied, “I said to it: ‘Go boldly among the English,’ and then I followed it myself.” So when we send out the white banner of pure and noble longings, we must be sure to follow them ourselves if we would win the blessings which our hearts crave.