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
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