You should not feel troubled, it seems to me, about the diversions in which you cannot avoid taking part. Many people want to make the worst of everything, and who are upset continually, increasing their loathing of the amusements which they have to endure.
God is ingenious in making us crosses. He makes them of iron and of lead, which are heavy in themselves. He makes them of straw which seems to weigh nothing, and which are less difficult to carry. He makes them of gold and of precious stones...
We do not always need to follow the spirit of mortification and recollection, which tends to withdraw us from social relationships, and we do not always need to pursue our zeal to lead others to God.
The period in which the fourth kingdom exists has a mysterious two thousand year hole in it, that is, from the crucifixion of Jesus to the commencement of the ministries of the Two Witnesses of Revelation chapter eleven, it is as though the prophetic time clock has stopped.