وجبـــــــة روحيـــــ(†)ــــــــــة يوميـــــــــة

[Mary Naeem]

My prison, my executioners, are my genes

It is not only those who struggle to make ends meet, those who have to deal with a multitude of problems in order to survive that become adrift, that find themselves sinking, and become miserable creatures (indeed, God arranges things in this way in order to make them holy from that moment). But even those who don’t have such problems but simply have to do things on their own (and who doesn’t suffer from some kind of difficulties in his life?) are swept under by their struggles as if by a wave. But there it is, God arranges things one way for some, and another for others.

Some people have within them elements[1]–call them genes if you want, or whatever–and one gene makes the person melancholy, another makes him aggressive. One gene makes him anxious, another makes him feel a complex of inferiority, another makes him agitated or angry. And when someone doesn’t respond to things properly, he literally sinks and the problem eats at him. He continually complains and he does not struggle properly or correctly.

There are very few people who completely recognize and accept themselves: “This is me”. We might even go so far as to say that someone is able to be helped to some degree by Psychology so that he might reconcile himself with himself. But Psychology doesn’t have anything particularly great to offer for overcoming the situation (a situation created by different genes, or the elements within him). Neither does it really offer anything toward a person’s transformation in Christ. Psychology simply helps the person to understand a bit better what is going on within himself, to come to terms with his state and to say: “This is my prison! This is my martyrdom! These are my persecutors, these are my torturers, these are my executioners.”

Man shouldn’t say this with resignation, though, since no matter how much he has sinned or how much he is influenced externally or internally by whatever negative influences, he is still made by God. Instead, he is able to say: “No, no! I will not be swallowed up by my situation. I will not be delivered up to my genes. I will not let my mood be determined by one or another of the elements which exist within me”. And this person will live in his prison and his martyrdom.

This martyrdom and this prison, though, are to be vigorously resisted. You mustn’t leave them to do whatever they wish. You need to resist. And by resisting sometimes things can even get fiercer. This is exactly what happened with the martyrs. The moment the torturers urged the martyr to offer incense to the idols he says No, the moment they ask him, “Do you reject Christ?”, he says No, and these enemies and executioners become enraged and even fiercer. Yet paradoxically, the martyr—each martyr—isn’t afraid; they aren’t affected by the ferocity. We must take this well into account.

Certainly, these things don’t simply happen with someone saying that he will do them. These things only happen in Christ, only with the grace of Christ. But this is the major theme: Whether we want to or not we will become martyrs. This is how God has arranged things. It will be in one way for one person and in another for someone else. Today, though, martyrdom is principally within our hearts, in our souls. And whatever negative things exist within us—either by genes or through inheritance—they can be made our servants by contributing to our souls becoming holy. If we believe in Christ in spite of all of this opposition and negativity within us, and are willing without complaint to live this captivity, to live this martyrdom, to bare whatever God may allow, then it won’t be long before we start feeling the miracle actually coming to life, flourishing—the miracle of the Lord transforming us.

[1] The word “elements” in this context refers to dark thoughts, bad feelings which make us feel depressed.

[Mary Naeem]

Sayings of Saint Paisios

“The devil fell because of his pride. A dreadful thing! He was the chief Angel, and became an enemy of God, and of man. There is no one, however, who should feel hatred, but only empathy– pity for his sorry state.”

***

“Humility, kindness, and simplicity, these are basic things. Kindness means to first think about what is beneficial for the other, not what is beneficial for ourselves. That said, God is not unjust: He subsequently recompenses us for whatever we lose in our efforts to help our brother.”

***

“All those who have enthusiasm and much ego must be in obedience, in order to cut their will.”

***

“Evil has greatly advanced, causing major changes to occur in these past years. There is however a good leaven on which–and because of which–God has mercy also on the whole world. Let’s not lose this leaven, because then we are doomed”.

[Mary Naeem]

Sayings of Saint Paisios

“We ought to struggle to uproot the major passions, since by uprooting a big passion, many other small ones are uprooted.”

***

“The mind of a selfless person ought to dwell more on the love of God, on His sacrifice, while that of a hard person on His judgment, on the retribution: i.e., each analogously.”

***

“Humility and love–there you have it. This is everything.”

[Mary Naeem]

Useful spiritual advice

A monk went once to Elder Feleka. He was also accompanied by several individuals that were not monks. He asked the Elder to tell them something useful like a spiritual advice. But the Elder was silent. The monk pleaded with him for some time, and finally the Elder said:

-You want to hear something useful for the soul?

-Yes, they responded.

-I have nothing to say, said the Elder. Because in the past when people were asking the Elders, then they will actually do what they were advised. So, God gave guidance to the Elders, to provide useful spiritual advice. However now people ask, but they do not apply what they hear. So God took His grace from the Elders and they have no advices. We do not have any words to say, because there are no workers of virtues.
When the guests heard the Elder, sighed and said:
– Pray for us, Elder.

[Mary Naeem]

Dealing with Enemies

The person who doesn’t have the Spirit of God in him, can’t love his enemies. Such a person responds with violence, the Christian responds differently.

Elder Sophrony, who was best known as the disciple and biographer of St Silouan the Athonite

[Mary Naeem]

The sin of Lucifer



Today is the feast-day of the angels and especially of the two chief angels, archangels Michael and Gabriel. Angels! Who believes in angels today? People have become materialists unfortunately. And the following anecdote is characteristic. When the Russian astronaut flew high with the spaceship and after returned back to Moscow, he ridiculed the Christian faith. He said he didn’t see angels or their feathers anywhere…This was also repeated by an atheist teacher in a school of a certain soviet village. Angels do not exist, she would say to the children. Our astronaut did not see angels. Then a small Russian, most intelligent, said: “Ms., he was flying too low, that is why he did not see them. What wisdom! As the gospel also says today, the mouths of small innocent children speak great truths (cp. Luke 10:21). This child said an astronomical truth. For truly, what was that distance that the astronaut traveled before the distances of light years that separate the stars? The universe that God built is grandiose. We believe that God is creator, the maker “both of things visible and invisible” (Creed of Faith). What are the visible things? It is those things that the five senses apprehend: the mountains, the seas, the rivers, the trees, the birds, the animals…Last, at the pinnacle of visible creatures, is man. With one difference: that man is not only visible, he is also invisible, matter and spirit. And as a certain wise man would say, man is primarily not what is seen but what is unseen. He is a mixture of matter and spirit: matter is the corruptible body, and the soul an immortal and eternal. The question arises. Beyond humans did God not create other beings? Of course he did. He set man in the middle; and on the one side he made material beings, and on the other side the immaterial beings, the angels. Concerning these holy Scripture speaks in many places. The word of God verifies, that the world of immaterial spirits exists. They are distinguished in orders. Their generals are Michael and Gabriel. What work do angels perform? They are announcement-bearers. They transport heavenly messages. Such was for example the saying “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace and good will among men” (Luke 2:14) which the chorus of angels sang on that unforgettable night of Christmas. Also, angels are protectors of people. Each one of us has his angel, whom he must not embitter. A certain painter made a beautiful image, which represents a small child passing a dangerous narrow bridge and a winged angel protects him. That is why we humans must be grateful towards our angels. Angels are not only heralds and guardians, they are also hymnologists. Here the birds hymn God in nature and the cantors in church; but at some point they grow tired. In heaven the angels are tireless chanters. Day and night they hymn the holy Trinity “with their mouths unceasingly, in unsilenced doxologies” (Divine Liturgy of Great Basil), and the hymn is heard: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord sabaoth, the heaven and the earth are full of Your glory…” (divine Liturgy; Isaiah 6:3). Shall I say something more? It will appear unbelievable. At one time Chirstians would enter church not with sinful eyes, eyes of fornicators and adulterers and flesh-worshippers, but with transformed eyes, and – it is not a myth, it is reality – , during the time that priests would liturgize, they would see angels!
The apolytikion of saint Spyridon says this, that, When, O saint, you liturgized, “you had angels liturgizing with you.” So angels exist. As certain it is that man exists, so certain and more so is it certain that angels and archangels exist. *** If you ask me, of the millions of angels who is the most brilliant, I will tell you: it was Lucifer, at the head of the heavenly powers. Why is he called thus? In the physical heaven thus is called the first and most brilliant star. In the morning, before the east, that illumines creation, a pre-announcer of the sun, and then we call him Dawn. At night, this same star, we call Aposperiti, and it appears again first after the setting of the sun. Its scientific name is Lucifer. So whatever that is in the physical heaven, this was the angel Lucifer in the spiritual horizon. But, but, he sinned! What did he do, fornication-adultery? No. These sins are serious too; but the most serious sin, the source of disaster for humanity, is one: the so-called luciferian sin, pride. He did not remain satisfied in the position which God had set him. In his intellect there became wedged the destructive idea: “I shall rise up to heaven, I shall set my throne above the stars…, I shall be elevated above the clouds, I shall become like the Most High” (Isaiah 14, 13-14). This thought was the seed of evil. And as soon as he reflected thus, immediately from being a brilliant spirit he became dark; from an angel he became satan. He even today in our society has his instruments. So the moment that Lucifer was falling from heaven “as lightning” (Luke 10:18), another big event occurred. A trumpet was heard. It is that which we hear each time at divine liturgy, but do not pay attention to it: “let us stand aright, let us stand with fear” (divine liturgy). This, according to our tradition, the archangel Michael said. Immediately the angelic orders were called to arms, and they stood unshakable round about the throne of God. And they continue now to serve him with devotion. *** From today’s feast-day we learn, my beloved, that there exists not only the material cosmos. Beyond matter there exists the spirit. The materialists say “From matter comes spirit”, which is an error/deception. What do we say “From spirit comes matter, and that one day we too shall take off the corruption of the body. Man shall reach the angelic height and even higher. Just as the angels day and night live near to God and hymn him, so in like manner we too shall be found in a new state. What else are we taught. As I said, the gravest sin is pride. In truth it is a satanic sin. That is the root of the pre-paternal, or original, sin. Perform an experiment – I performed it many times. Gather together a dozen or so children and ask them: Who among you is the best child? They look among one another and no one recognizes the other; each one of these little twerps considers himself superior to the others. Pride in the hearts of the little ones, pride in the big ones, pride in women, pride in the nations. I was reading when I was small a noteworthy prophesy, which foretold that there shall be a first World War; it enumerated the tribulations that the peoples would suffer, and among other things – 100 years before the war occurred – it would say of germany: “And you, prideful Germany, shall fall…”. And truly she fell. She became prideful over her discoveries, she thought that through science she would be able to dominate the whole world. You would hear in the days of the invading occupation the Germans with their foreheads high, with the gait of a goose, singing “Germany above all”. They considered us [Greeks] an undeveloped people, which is not capable of anything but shepherding swine. Behold the pride. But you heard what the prophesy would say: “And you, O Germany, shall fall…” And in general, whoever goes against God, shall fall, shall become ashes. God, the Almighty and All-Powerful, hates nothing else as much as He hates pride. I remind you of the end of Kosmas the Aeotolean, who journeying various places and preaching concerning humility, used to say: “When we see some humble person, we see him as if he were an angel, his appearance makes us want to open our heart and put him inside; and when we see some prideful person, we see him as if he were the devil, we turn our face to the other side not to see him” (p. 116-117).
Pride is a winged devil. Let us humble ourselves then, let us apply the adage “know thyself” of our ancient forebears; let us live with humility and the deep sense of our sins, and then angels and archangels shall accompany us during our life until our last breath; amen.

[Mary Naeem]

Why are you hurting, dear man?

Why are you hurting so much? Not for any other reason, but because there is resistance in you, because there is rebellion. And here is how this rebellion works. As it happens with a fortress… which is being under assault from the outside. The stronger the person, who is inside fighting for it, resists, the more intense the efforts of the attackers become to siege the fortress. To break doors, to get into it and occupy it.

This is what happens with God and the soul. Every one of us is entrenched within his impregnable fortress-stronghold of his own establishment.

For a lifetime long God tries through His grace to knock down this fortress, to reach you, to touch you, to embrace you. And you fight against it. You fight back with all your might.

The visitations of pain, the visitations of God through pain, are such a thing exactly. And you don’t give in. That’s why you are hurting. Because you have your own strong will. You’ve got egoism. You’ve got selfishness. The resistance and rebellion are solid, they aren’t something vague.

No matter what happens to him, a saint will say: “let it be blessed”. And he moves on. And he savours all the blessing of pain. A saint doesn’t get hurt because there is no resistance to the will of God in him. Nor is there any rebellion against how God did or does everything. What hurts a saint is sin only. But this kind of pain nurtures the soul, invigorates man, endows man with life.

Humble yourself and say: I am under God’s wing. I live under God’s providence. It can’t be that God has done things wrongly. It can’t be that God has lost control. It seems He needs to hurt me. It seems I need to struggle. It seems that this, that or the other suffering is absolutely necessary. And so is all that’s happening to me. If you say so, you see everything differently.

Whether we like it or not, we will live this life and whether we like it or not, we will go through whatever there is to go through.

All sufferings are the warp through which, like a weft, goes the grace of God, his miraculous interventions, his whole uncreated divine energy, and in such a way, day by day, man is transformed.

[Mary Naeem]

Giving spiritual water…

Do not ashamed and do not ignore to give “spiritual water” to other people who are thirsty.

He who keeps for himself the beneficial knowledge that he has and doesn’t share it with others, and doesn’t provide spiritual water like a healing spring to the souls who are thirsty, he doesn’t follow Christ.

[Mary Naeem]

Sayings of Saint Paisios

“A person ought to act in accordance with his spiritual state. To do, therefore, things that correspond to the spiritual state in which he finds himself”. (i.e., to not exceed his spiritual measure).

***

“During the day, you ought to do as did St. Anthony the Great: a little handy work, a little prayer. During the night, a little study and prayer. Small but hard serious study helps a lot.

***

“Devout parents who want their children to become monastics, should not tell them to, but should live themselves like monastics. Neither should they vow to God that their children will become monastics. If these children don’t have a calling, then they will be tortured for their whole life. In such cases, the Bishop must read a prayer and they won’t be monastics”.

[Mary Naeem]

انت بتخدم مين!

السيد المسيح من أجل لقائه بالسامرية ومن أجل خلاصها مشى علشانها مشوار طويل ومر فى وسط بلد كان من الصعب أى شخص يهودى يمر فيها لكنه اتحمل وراح وقعد جنب البئر وطلب منها يشرب...

رغم انه هو ينبوع الماء الحي.

ياترى احنا فى خدمتنا بنخدم السهل بس؟

ولا بنمشى ونركب مواصلات واحياناً نسافر ونتحمل ؟

بنختار الشخص اللى خدمته سهلة ولا بنختار الاصعب؟

بتختار وتختارى تخدموا بس اللى لسانهم حلو معكم ويمجدو ويمدحو فيكم ولا بتخدم الكل ؟

ياترى بتخدم مرضى وطريح فراش ومستخدمى كراسى متحركه ولا بتنتظر اللى يقدر يجيلك لحد عندك؟

بتحب تتظاهر وتخدم قدام الناس ورايح فين رايح الخدمه جاى منين جاى من الخدمة ولا بتخدم فى الخفاء وتتحمل كتير وواثق فى تعويض ربنا لك؟

كاتب فى صفحتك على الفيس "خادم الرب" وفى الخاص بتخدمه فعلاً بتكلم الناس عنه ؟ وتعمل خير ؟ بتقدم مشورة وارشاد ونصح ؟ ولا فى الواقع بتخدم حد تانى ؟!!

بتخدم أشخاص ولا بتخدم المسيح اللى فيهم؟ منتظر أجرك هنا ولا واثق ان لك رصيد فى الابدية؟

ابرام تاوضروس - كاتب ومدرب تنمية بشرية