There are two paths which lead to God

 

"There are two paths that lead to God: the hard

and debilitating path with fierce assaults against evil, and the

easy path of love. There are many who chose the hard path

and 'shed blood in order to receive Spirit' until they attained

great virtue. I find the shorter and safer route is the path of

love.

That is, you can make a different kind of effort: to study and

pray and have your aim to advance in the love of God and of

the Church. Do not fight to expel darkness from the chamber

of your soul. Open a tiny aperture for the light to enter, and

the darkness will disappear. The same holds true for our

passions and desires. Do not fight them, but transform them

into strengths by showing disdain for evil."

Do not choose negative methods to correct yourselves.

There is no need to fear the devil, hell or anything else.

These things provoke a negative reaction…The object is to

live, to study, to pray and to advance in love..

-Elder Porphyrios 

"A genuine Christian ascetic views life in a wholly

different way…He nevertheless loves the world with a

true love and he mercifully tolerates the dirt that has

settled on the world, covering it with his meekness...

He lives in a measured and peaceful way, the progress

of his ascesis resembling the movement of the sun

through the heavens.

The higher the Christian ascetic ascends on his path to

the heavenly land, the brighter his inner eye shines, the

deeper the Holy Spirit descends into his heart-the

more clearly then will he see the inner, absolutely

valuable core of creation, the more intensely then will

pity for the prodigal child of God burn in his soul. And

when the spirit descended on the saints in their highest

flights of prayer, they shone with blindingly radiant love

for creation." 

-St Pavel Florensky

‘In the evening of life, we shall be judged on Love alone.’

St John of the Cross