If our thoughts are kind, we create harmony

Elder Theddeus

If our thoughts are kind, peaceful and quiet, turned only towards good, then we also influence ourselves and radiate peace all around us—in our family, in the whole country, everywhere. When we labor in the fields of the Lord, we create harmony. Divine harmony, peace and quiet spread everywhere. However, when we breed negative thoughts, that is a great evil. When there is evil in us, we radiate it among our family members and everywhere we go. So you see, we can be very good or very evil. If that's the way it is, it is certainly better to choose good!

St. John Chrysostom teaches us that all evil comes first from ourselves and only secondly from the devil. If we keep our minds vigilant and our hearts strong in the Faith, the devil has no access to us.

Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnitza

Should I cross myself on street when I see Church?

It often happens that I pass by a church, not too near, not too far either. Should I cross myself in such instances as there are usually lots of people around, and this sort of behaviour could be a shock to them. Is this a sin when I fear to cross myself, for example, when I see the church from the train? Is this a sin that our Lord is saying about: “Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
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Valaam Elder:
It is good to cross oneself in a quiet manner – I think this will not shock other people. Carefully consider everything you do. It is one thing to go past the church, but another to see it from the train. One should avoid extremes in every single deed, and they are here – either to completely stop crossing oneself, or to be like a Pharisee, and bow everywhere.

A bird lives in the forest, yet does not see the forest

PRAYER VII

Would that I could make musicians from stone, dan­cers from the sand of the lake, and minstrels from the leaves of all the trees in the mountains, so that they might help me glorify the Lord—that the voice of the earth might be heard amidst the choirs of angels!

 

The sons of men gorge themselves at the table of the absent Master, singing for no one but themselves and about nothing save that which fills their mouths, which must in time return to the earth.

 

Exceedingly sad is the blindness of the sons of men, who do not see the power and glory of the Lord. A bird lives in the forest, yet does not see the forest. A fish swims in the water, yet does not see the water. A mole lives in the earth, yet does not see the earth. In truth, the likeness of man to birds, fish, and moles is exceedingly sad.

 

Humans, like animals, do not heed what exists in excessive abundance, but open their eyes only before that which is rare or exceptional.

 

Of Thee, O Lord, my breath, there is excess; therefore, men do not see Thee. Thou art too obvious, O Lord, my sighing; therefore, the attention of men is diverted from Thee and directed towards polar bears, towards rarities in the distance.

 

Thou servest Thy servants too greatly, my sweet faithfulness; therefore, Thou art subjected to scorn. Thou rises' to kindle the sun over the lake too early; therefore, the sleepyheads cannot bear Thee. Thou are too zealous in lighting the vigil lamps in the firmament at night, my unsurpassed zeal; and the lazy hearts of men speak more of the indolent servant than to one zealous.

 

O my love, would that I could motivate all the inhabitants of the earth, water, and air to hum a hymn to Thee! Would that I could remove leprosy from the face of the earth and turn this wanton world back into the virginal purity that Thou didst create!

 

Truly, my God, Thou art just as great with or without the world.

 

Thou art equally great, whether the world glorifies Thee or whether the world blasphemes Thee. But when the world blas­phemes Thee, in the eyes of the Saints Thou seemest even greater.

 

 

 "Prayers by the Lake"

St. Nikolai of Ohrid