"If we want to set our lives right and find peace, it is not the tolerant attitude of others that will do it for us. It will come about, rather, by our learning how to show compassion to them. If we try to avoid this hard struggle of compassion, by preferring a withdrawn and solitary... Continue Reading →
On The Love of Enemies
"An enemy is by definition one who obstructs, ensnares, and injures others. He is therefore a sinner. We ought to love his soul by correcting him and doing everything possible to bring him to conversion. We ought to love his body too by coming to his aid with the necessities of life. That love for... Continue Reading →
Genesis: The Book of Love
We have previously discussed the book of Genesis and how it is we can come to read this book (Genesis: The Book of Life). Here let us consider together what Genesis teaches about human relationships and about love, again, as rooted in the revelation of The Lord Jesus Christ. In the last century the champions... Continue Reading →
Love Melts all Negativity
"He that loves (agapon) his neighbor as he ought, does not decline to be a servant to him more humbly than any slave. Just as fire, when brought into contact with wax, easily softens it, so does the warmth of love (agapes) dissolve all arrogance and presumption more powerfully than fire." St. John Chrysostom, Homily... Continue Reading →
Defining God
"God is Love. Whoever sought to define Him would be like a blind person trying to count the grains of sand on the seashore." St. John Climacus, The Ladder of Divine Ascent, Chapter 30.
God Hears The Stammering of The Little Children
"When you are praying, don't rack your brains to find words. On many occasions, the simple, monotonous stammering of children has satisfied their Father who is in Heaven. Don't bother trying to be eloquent lest your mind be bewildered in the search for words. The tax-collector gained the Lord's forgiveness with a single sentence, and... Continue Reading →
The Humble God – The Epistle to Diognetus Part 10
“If you also desire [to possess] this faith, you likewise shall receive first of all the knowledge of the Father. For God has loved mankind, on whose account He made the world, to whom He rendered subject all the things that are in it, to whom He gave reason and understanding, to whom alone He... Continue Reading →
Does The Sun Hide From The Blind?
"By living in holiness we cleave to God; but by becoming wicked we make Him our enemy. It is not that He grows angry with us in an arbitrary way, but it is our own sins that prevent God from shining within us and expose us to demons who torture us. And if through prayer... Continue Reading →
Let us Seek Quietness and Love
Always to want your own way, becoming accustomed to having it, always to seek the easy path— all this leads straight to depression. But love, quietness, and contemplation of the inner life cleanse our hearts. —Sayings of the Egyptian Fathers
Look on The Good Your Neighbour Does
"And if you see your neighbour sinning, do not take only his sin into consideration. Reflect upon all that he has done or continues to do rightly. If it often the cause, when your examination goes through every detail and you do not judge based on partial information, that you will discover that he is... Continue Reading →
The Epistle to Diognetus Part 6 – He Came in Love
“For, as I said, this was no mere earthly invention which was delivered to them,.. nor has a dispensation of mere human mysteries been committed to them, but truly God Himself, who is almighty, the Creator of all things, and invisible, has sent from heaven, and placed among men, [Him who is] the truth, and... Continue Reading →
The Epistle to Diognetus Part 5 – They Love All
“For the Christians are distinguished from other men neither by country, nor language, nor the customs which they observe. For they neither inhabit cities of their own, nor employ a peculiar form of speech, nor lead a life which is marked out by any singularity... But, inhabiting Greek as well as barbarian cities,... following the... Continue Reading →
