Part Three: How the Christian Life is Lived, Ripened and Fortified, and about the Order of a God-pleasing Life. Chapter Three. A Guiding Rule for a God-Pleasing Life. 4. Rules for the Beginner of an Ascetic Labor. part 3 Tear Away Passionateness by the Rule of Labor. One must tear away passionateness that has fused and blended with our natural powers. Because this combination is similar to the bonding of chemical elements, the methods of expelling it should be like those applicable to chemical dissolution. Namely, in order to free an element from its forced union with another, a third outside element is introduced, with which the first element would form a stronger bond than it had with the second. When this is brought to pass, the old bonded element falls away, and the new element unites with the first, giving it a new form. In applying this method to ourselves, to all our physical, psychological and emotional powers and functions that are captive to passionateness and possessed by something forced and unnatural, we must apply something compatible that will form a very close bond with these powers and functions. Once this new element has fused with our make-up, we will correspondingly free ourselves from passionate bonds and take on a new, natural way of life. This new element is the rule of labor or occupation applied to our powers. Proceeding in these rules and guarding that inner acquisition of the Spirit of grace that has united with them and our natural powers, the person will be more and more filled with this Spirit. Once the fire of this Spirit has been received in this way, it is freer to work within us, and the more quickly it consumes our impurity, the more our natural state will broaden. St. Theofan the Recluse The Path to Salvation: A Manual of Spiritual Transformation.
Posted on: Mon, 08 Dec 2014 00:57:10 +0000
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