Thus saith our Lord in a threatening way to a chosen soul in holy Writ: Thou fairest among women, if thou knowest not thyself, go out, and walk after the steps of the flock of thy fellows, and feed thy kids. And it is as much as to say: Thou soul, fair by nature, made after the likeness of God, frail in thy body as a woman, by reason of the first sin, that thou knowest not thyself, nor how that angels’ food should be thy delights within, therefore goest thou out by thy bodily senses, and seekest thy meat and thy liking as a beast of the flock, that is as one outcast and rejected, and therewith thou feedest thy thoughts and thine affections, which are unclean as goats. It is a shame for thee to do so. (John Climacus)

Because we do not know our origns and purpose, because we do not know ourselves, we mistake what we need and want what is bad for us.

Unlike Climacus I am not sure that delighting the senses is bad for us. But I am sure the senses are attracted to what is both good and bad for us.

Through self-knowledge we can distinguish between what is good for us and what is bad. This may, in some cases, be different for you and for me.

For each of us what is good begins with our fundamental nature as a creature of God and the grace that God has extended to all.

In this beginning with the nature of God, I expect Climacus and I agree.