On Humility and Peace...

Children of the Sea
Joseph Israels

An Excerpt from "The Imitation"

On humility and peace

Do not worry about who is and is not on your side: simply make
sure that God is with you in all you do.

Have a clear conscience, and God will defend you. For if God
chooses to help you, no malice can do you harm.

If you know how to suffer in silence, without doubt you will
receive the help of the Lord. He knows when and how he will
free you, so resign yourself into his care. It is for God to give help
and give freedom from trouble.

For the sake of humility it is often good for others to know our
weaknesses and tax us with them.

When a man holds himself humbly because of his weakness, it
is easy for him to please others and calm those who are angry
with him.

God protects and frees the humble, loves and consoles them.
He leans down to the humble, he bestows great grace on them,
he lifts them from their lowliness into glory.

God calls the humble gently to him, and to them he reveals
his secrets.

If a humble man is humiliated, he is happy enough and at peace,
because his support is God and not the world.

Do not count yourself as having made progress until you feel
yourself inferior to everyone.

A peaceable man is of more use than a learned man.

If you are a slave to your feelings, you will see good actions as bad,
and you will easily believe the worst; a good and peaceful man will
see good in everything.

Whoever is truly at peace is not plagued by suspicion. Whoever is
discontented and disturbed will be blown about by gusts of suspicion:
he cannot rest and will not let others rest either.

He often says what he should not say, and fails to do what it would
be best to do.

He knows what other people ought to do, but not what he should be
doing himself.

Worry about your own behaviour first; you can worry about other
people later.

You are good at making excuses for your own behaviour and showing
it in the best light, but you do not want to accept the excuses of others.
It would be fairer for you to accuse yourself and excuse your brother.

If you want other people to put up with you, put up with them first.

Thomas a' Kempis

Without the Noise of Words...

"Jesus needs neither books nor Doctors of Divinity in order to instruct souls; He, the Doctor of Doctors, He teaches without noise of words."

a note for me :) Straight from the sweet little flower Saint Therese.

We mustn't despair...

"We mustn't despair when we struggle and continuously see nothing but the slightest progress. We all do nearly nothing, some a little more, some a little less. When Christ sees our little effort He gives us an analogous token and so our nearly nothing becomes valuable and we can see a little progress. For this reason we mustn't despair, but hope in God."
Elder Paisios

The person who is possessed by material things...

"The Widows Mite"
Daniel Bonnel

" The person who is possessed by material things is always subjugated to unhappiness and anxiety, for on the one hand he trembles for fear that they take his things away from him, while on the other he trembles for fear that his soul be taken from him. Now, the miser whose hand is sore from his tight hold on things, also squeezed his own heart, and turned it into stone. In order for him to be healed, he must visit unhappy people, to suffer, so he will be forced to open his hand slowly, slowly, and his heart of stone will also start to soften. It will become a human heart and in this way the gates of Paradise will also open."

~Elder Paisios

As a person becomes more spiritual ...

"The Nun"

Francesco Hayez,

Father Paisios said: "As a person becomes more spiritual, so much fewer rights does he has in this life. It is obligatory to be patient, to accept injustice, to accept evil words from others. A crooked stick (perverted person) who is distant from God has many rights: to strike and shout and act unrighteously. Our rights God keeps for the other life. Out of ignorance however we often seek our rights here. Let us not damage things at all. If they say anything to us, immediately we give them the right. And later we think we trust in God. That is a big joke. Human justice doesn't mean anything to a spiritual person. But it is a great concern for the perverted person."

When one Realizes...

"Mary Magdalene"
Feti

"When one realizes one's sinfulness and the great mercy of God, the heart cracks, as hard as it may be, and real tears fall of themselves and then man prays and weeps without effort. This is because humility works continuously together with philotimo and drills on the heart so that the springs increase, and the hand of God continually strokes the hard-working and philotimo child."

Elder Paisios

Whoever is at peace in the material world...

"Eggshell"
Tom Brown

"Whoever is at peace in the material world and is not concerned about the salvation of his soul is like the senseless birds who don't make a noise from within the egg, so as to break the shell and come out to enjoy the sun-the heavenly flight in the life of Paradise-but instead remain unmoving and die inside the egg shell."

Elder Paisios