A Ship to Sail In

A brother spoke with Theodore and began to talk about matters of which he had no experience. Theodore said to him, "You've not yet found a ship to sail in, nor put your luggage aboard, nor put out to sea, and you're already acting as if you were in the city which you mean to reach. If you make some attempt to do the things you are discussing, then you can talk about them with understanding."

Endure the Fight

Poemen said about John the Short that he asked the Lord to take away his passions. So his heart was at rest, and he went to a hermit and said, "I find that I am at peace, with no war between flesh and spirit."

The hermit said to him, "Go and ask the Lord to stir up a new war in you. Fighting is good for the soul."

When the conflict revived in him, he no longer prayed for it to be taken away, but said, "Lord, grant me the strength to endure this fight."

~~Spiritual Warfare by Laurie Cooper

Poverty and Obedience

Isaac said to the brothers, "Pambo and our predecessors used to wear old and much-patched clothes. You wear good clothes. Go away, you do not belong here." When they were starting out for the harvest, he said, "I shall give you no more orders, for you never obey me."

Photo by Frank Logue; statue of Saint Francis at San Damiano, Italy

The Demon of Lust

Poemen said, "As a bodyguard is always standing by to protect the Emperor, so the soul should always be ready to fight the demon of lust."

~~Lust by William Blake

Leave It Be

Once Agatho was going on a journey with his disciples. One of them found a small bag of green peas on the road, and said to him, "Abba, if you say so, I will pick it up."

Agatho looked at him in astonishment and said, "Did you put it there?"

The brother replied, "No."

Agatho said, "Why do you want to pick up something you did not put down?"

Consuming Fire

Some of the monks asked Macarius of Egypt, "Why is your body dry, whether you eat or fast?"

He said to them, "A wooden poker which turns over and over the brushwood in the fire is itself being slowly burnt away. So if a man cleanses his mind in the fear of God, the fear of God also consumes his body."

Stillness

Evagrius said, "Cut the desire for many things out of your heart and so prevent your mind being dispersed and your stillness lost."