Category: TEMPTATION & LUST & VIRGINITY

  • The Value of Adversity

    It is good for us to have trials and troubles at times, for
    they often remind us that we are on probation and ought not to hope in any worldly thing. It is good for us sometimes to suffer contradiction, to be misjudged by men even though we do well and mean well. These things help us to be humble and shield us from vainglory. When to all outward appearances men give us no credit, when they do not think
    well of us, then we are more inclined to seek God Who sees
    our hearts. Therefore, a man ought to root himself so firmly
    in God that he will not need the consolations of men.

    When a man of good will is afflicted, tempted, and
    tormented by evil thoughts, he realizes clearly that his
    greatest need is God, without Whom he can do no good.
    Saddened by his miseries and sufferings, he laments and
    prays. He wearies of living longer and wishes for death that
    he might be dissolved and be with Christ. Then he understands fully that perfect security and complete peace cannot be found on earth.

    —Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ

  • Worries are less obtrusive when we choose activities that bring us into a state of flow. When we experience flow, we are completely immersed in what we are doing. We are so absorbed in the present moment that time falls away and we forget our worries. A friend of mine is obsessed with ice climbing.  Climbing up a mountain in the bitter cold does not sound like much fun to me, but when she explained why she loves it, I immediately understood. “It forces me to focus only on climbing, because if I don’t I could fall. It’s the only time I forget everything else–all my worries, my work, everything–and just focus on what is right in front of me.” What my friend was describing was the sensation of being in flow.

    A few years ago I took up sewing. I spent hours creating dresses and dance costumes. I was so absorbed in my creations that hours flew by without my noticing. Nowadays, I experience flow most when I’m writing. Instead of sewing fabric, I stitch together ideas. When I’m immersed in a writing project, I can’t think about anything else.  Writing gives me plenty of footholds to climb out of all the dark places my thoughts want to go. Other introverts might feel this way when they are playing the piano, gardening, or cooking. Anything that fully immerses us in the present moment will also give us respite from our worries.

    —Michaela Chung, The Irresistible Introvert

  • Frankl went on to say it wasn’t pleasure mankind was looking for, that men only sought pleasure when they couldn’t find meaning. If a man has no sense of meaning, Frankl argued, he will numb himself with pleasure.

    —Donald Miller, Scary Close: Dropping the Act and Finding True Intimacy

  • “So in every test, let us say: ‘Thank you, my God, because this was needed for my salvation.’”

    —Elder Paisios of Mount Athos

  • “Those who have been humbled by their passions may take courage. For even if they fall into every pit and are trapped in all the snares and suffer all maladies, yet after their restoration to health they become physicians, beacons, lamps, and pilots for all, teaching us the habits of every disease and from their own personal experience able to prevent their neighbours from falling.”

    —St. John Climacus, The Ladder of Divine Ascent

  • “No matter how much the waves of temptation rise up against your soul, always hasten to Christ. The Saviour will always come to your aid and will calm the waves. Believe that the Lord has providentially arranged such experiences for your soul’s healing and do not reject them, seeking bodily peace and imaginary tranquility, for it is better to be shaken and yet to endure. If you will gain an insight from this, it will greatly lighten your struggle and you will gain more peace than if you do not.”

    —St. Leo of Optina

  • Does God rule over me, or does the world rule over me? Does God rule over me, or does fear rule over me? Am I always afraid? Do I always the slightest thing brings me terror in my heart. Does God rule over me or does anxiety rule over me? I’m always anxious. Once more thing happens and I start crying, and that’s the end of the world. I’m anxious about my family, I’m anxious about my health, I’m anxious about my finances. I’m anxious about my children and their and their careers and their academic and their schooling and so forth. I’m anxious. I’m anxious. I’m anxious. What rules over me, that or anxiety, or, God, what rules over me? Pride. And pride is a funny thing, because pride has many, many faces. Sometimes pride can be arrogance, where you look at somebody and say, yeah, they are a prideful person. And believe it or not, pride can be something as simple as gossiping. Why do I gossip? Why do I talk about other people? Because something about them bothers me, something about them that maybe they have I wish I had, or they think they’re all nice because of a fancy car, or that’s gossiping. And gossiping comes from envy. And where does envy come from? Pride? Pride has money. Pride can even manifest as, forgive me, insecurity; insecurity in yourself, insecurity in your personality, low self-esteem. Why? Because you think that you should be better than the other person, and because you’re not, you feel bad about yourself. So pride can have many, many faces. So does pride rule over me? Does lust and pornography rule over me? Am I in that kingdom where that rules over my time and my thoughts and my actions and everything? What else rules over me? Could it be an anger? Does anger rule over me? The slightest thing makes me angry and resentful, and I don’t want to talk to that person. and I give them the cold shoulder.

    —Fr. Benjamin Girgis

  • He remained constantly with God in silence, ever ready to repel the surges of both sensuality and anger.

    [on St. John Chrysostom]

    via Saint John Chrysostom, On the Vanity of Riches

  • How many times have you suffered from severe tribulations and vowed before God that if He saves you, you will do such and such? Do you abide by the pledges which you vow before God during your affliction?

    —H.H. Pope Shenouda III, Characteristics of the Spiritual Path

  • “It is impossible for muddy water to grow clear if it is constantly stirred up.”

    —St. Nilus of Ancyra