To Abba Pambo, who asked him, “What ought I to do?” the old man said: “Do not trust in your own righteousness, do not worry about the past, but control your tongue and your stomach.”
The Way of the Heart: The Spirituality of the Desert Fathers and Mothers
Henri Nouwen
Category: DISCERNMENT
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And beware you do not blindly insist that things must work out according to what you consider to be right and good. God sometimes does permit such blind insistence to be followed by the fulfilment of our ardent desires. This always leads to misery and disaster (intended to open our eyes on our folly), and happens particularly often when our desires are founded on wild passions.
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After a careful study of your disposition, which life has encouraged you to undertake, you have at last come to see that you have never loved; nor do you know or understand anything about love.
Letters of Elder Macarius of Optina -
“When harmed, insulted or persecuted by someone, do not think of the present but wait for the future, and you will find he has brought you much good, not only in this life but also in the life to come.”
—St. Mark the Ascetic -
A lot of times, we think there is a problem in my life because of this or that. We rarely think that it’s my sins that are causing a problem.
It’s not my coworker, it’s not my life situation, it’s not my illness, not my family situation, or anything else; it’s my sins. My sins are making me incapable of dealing with this problem in a way that a true christian would deal with it. No matter your problems, no matter whose fault it is, it’s also always your fault. That’s the way a Christian thinks.
—Fr. Seraphim Holland -
Do not say, I have given you much advice, but it’s useless; you should have long-suffering.
Hearken to the apostle, saying, “…uphold the weak, be patient with all” (1 Thess. 5:14). Overcoming a deep-rooted struggle needs time and patience, so be patient with the weak until God’s grace visits and delivers them. Remember that you also have a similar nature, and put before you the words of the apostle, “Remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering” (Heb. 13:3).
—H.H. Pope Shenouda III, Life of Hope
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And beware you do not blindly insist that things must work out according to what you consider to be right and good. God sometimes does permit such blind insistence to be followed by the fulfilment of our ardent desires. This always leads to misery and disaster (intended to open our eyes on our folly), and happens particularly often when our desires are founded on wild passions.
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Make a rule never to speak to any one but your confessor either of your illusions or of your temptations.
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If He intends that you should be this man’s wife all hindrance will be overcome, and marry him you will. But if God does not wish it, no matter how you plan and strive for it, will be of no avail.
And beware you do not blindly insist that things must work out according to what you consider to be right and good. God sometimes does permit such blind insistence to be followed by the fulfilment of our ardent desires. This always leads to misery and disaster (intended to open our eyes on our folly), and happens particularly often when our desires are founded on wild passions.
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How do you how do you hear God’s voice? Because I think that’s a very key part, like knowing and discerning the voice of God versus, you know, the voice of you know, the devil or the voice of men. Like, how do you discern the voice of God, and how do you act accordingly, knowing that this is what God wants.
The more serious the decision and or the issue, the more clear God will make his voice. And it won’t always come from just one source. I feel it comes from a number of sources. As I said earlier, I also don’t like to make either natural decisions, and so I hear God’s voice through consultation, through deliberation, through thought process, through prayer, of course, that underpins all of that. So yes, a lot of people around me, young and old, adults and children, I feel that they culminate into how I hear God’s voice.
SO GOOD QUOTES 