Tag Archive: community


Symphony

Filed under: Community, Virtue, Work
October 20, 2012

Being servants of love and peace, the angels rejoice over our repentance (cf. Luke 15:7) and our progress in holiness. Hence they try to develop spiritual contemplation within us and they cooperate with us in the achieving of every form of blessing.

~ St. Theodore the Great Ascetic,
A Century of Spiritual Texts 20

Through the generosity of a coworker, Kelly and I got to go on a free date last night! We went to see the Grand Rapids Symphony perform a variety of pieces from Stravinsky to Mozart to Mendelssohn and including some original work by a young composer a year younger than myself. As part of the program, he was there and was able to comment on his two contributions, bringing further life into an already vibrant performance. In addition, there was a very talented pianist (a full five years younger than me!) who performed beautifully on the Mendelssohn piece that closed the night. On the few occasions that I have been blessed to attend the symphony, I always find my mind wondering to reflect on what a great illustration it is for our spiritual life. Continue reading →

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With a Little Help from My Friends

Filed under: Community, Discipline
September 8, 2012

There was a bishop of the city of Oxyrhynchus named Affy. They said that while he was a monk, he treated his body very severely. And when he became a bishop, he wanted to continue in his city the austerities which he had practised in the desert, but he could not. So he fell prostrate before God, and said: “Dost thou think, my Lord, that thy grace has left me because I have become a bishop?” And it was revealed to him: “No: in the desert you had no man to help you, and God alone sustained you. But now you are in the world, and have men to help you.

~ Sayings of the Desert Fathers 15.13

This is an important saying. It reveals that, despite their quest for perfection, the desert fathers were realists when it came to discipline. They did not consider that their way of life made them holier than those in the world per se; rather they saw it as an effective way to focus on austerity, as a path, but not the only path. Continue reading →

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