Devil's Handiwork

"Father, I wish to confess..."
"My son, no man is above sin."
"I don't think it was sin for it was such a beatific moment. There she stood near Mary's shop..."
"The florist?"
"Yes, and the flowers gossiped about what I lost myself to. Those flowers who readily gave their finest shades to her... to her cheeks, gossiped about my insane attraction."
"The flesh is the strongest Devil and..."
"Not the flesh, but her cheeks... listen to me Father, for my sin is to have held this in my heart too long. She stood there grasping the wicker basket to her breasts which are still the slightest rise from her ribs, but how the basket breathed with her. But my eyes returned to her cheeks. Aaah! Such a splendid sight it was. So utterly soft and succulent. They were so ... so tender. Her hair tried their best to scar it with their wanton sway, but lost their vile ways upon contact and gently slid their sinuous fingers gently from where her lower lashes ended to where her chin turned towards a more delicate neck. Aaah! I could see the throb of life against those cheeks, and so pure were they that a drop of Heaven's purest milk would pale in comparison. The air stood to watch the satiny down of them and kissed her so lightly. And when she blushed... aaah! I cried and cried at the sight of such beauty, when the flowers vied to offer their finest colours to her. So soft... so full of life, and with each step they gained a life of their own and moved oh! so gently, and my heart learnt then why it beats and to whose rhythm. A slight jiggle as earth and heaven tugged at those cheeks for themselves ... hardly noticeable were it not for the thumping in my breast. Imagine running my trembling finger over Heaven's softness and hardly feeling the peach of her skin... such a lovely gossamer, so lovely a face and those cheeks... aaaah! I was feverish to hold them in my hands, hands that I knew could only destroy them, but so blessed would be those hands... to slide my nose from her jaw up to her where her brow vanished and the lovely colours of a virgin maiden spring... to place my tongue against it and draw life's nourishment from it... to..."
"Stop it Joseph! You are possessed. I have never known the Devil to grasp so tightly and so quickly."
"But those fair cheeks..." and Joseph smiled.
"Enough. I order you to confine yourself to your room for the next week. You must read the Psalms throughout the day and ..."
Joseph rose as if in a daze and walked out.
"Joseph... Joseph... listen to me..."
Joseph kept walking but before he stepped out of the church he turned around and looked at the enormous cross on the farther end of his path. He saw Him nailed to the cross and saw His cheeks. He shook his head and smiled.
"It is such an irony that only the Devil can reveal the beauty of Your creation."