patient acceptance of whatever happens

"If you wish to remember God unceasingly, do not reject as undeserved what happens to you, but patiently accept it as your due. For patient acceptance of whatever happens kindles the remembrance of God, whereas refusal to accept weakens the spiritual purpose of the heart and so makes it forgetful."

[Saint Mark the Ascetic, “No Righteousness by Works” # 134, The Philokalia, Vol. 1]

He took me...for this I will praise You

"I love you, O LORD, my strength.
The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold...
He sent from on high, he took me;
he drew me out of many waters.
He rescued me from my strong enemey and from those who hated me,
for they were too mighty for me.
They confronted me in the day of my calamity,
but the LORD was my support.
He brought me out into a broad place;
he rescued me, because he delighted in me...
For it is you who light my lamp;
the LORD my God lightens my darkness...
by my God I can leap over a wall.
This God--his way is perfect,
the word of the LORD proves true;
he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him....
your gentleness made me great...
The LORD lives, and blessed be my rock,
and exalted be the God of my salvation...
For this I will praise you, O LORD, among the nations
and sing to your name..."

[from Psalm 18]

on the heel that has crushed it

"Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it." - Mark Twain

gonna get along without you now

[She & Him, "Gonna Get Along Without You Now"]

where only those embracing coldness go

This is so beautiful. Does anyone know its name?

It reminds me of the line in the Great Lake Swimmers' song "Pulling on a Line":

The line, it inks across the freshly fallen snow,
Where only those embracing coldness go
It whistles and it whispers, and sometimes it howls,
It sings to me sweetly from the trees and in vowels...

be messy. cry lots.

Please let yourself be broken before the Lord. "The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit." I know this firsthand....The point is that after some time away from the Lord I had this moment when I snapped. I completely fell apart. It was awesome because I had to say "I can't fix this". I could not fix me and my looming depression. I couldn't fix him... All I could do was fall at the foot of the cross, and the Lord met me there. Our God had a heart for the hurting. Oh, and before you go beating yourself up for what you should and shouldn't have done know that he came for the messy, sick people. Be messy. Cry lots.

- advice from my good friend

there were scars before my scars

[JJ Heller, "Control"]

your hands are holding me, they hold me still

[JJ Heller, "Your Hands"]

their hooves are giving me growing pains, i sleep like a tornado

"I saw four black eagles with horns growing towards the ground like columns or anchors reaching for the bottom; their feathers folded like hands on a man resting in his coffin bending over each other, rattling my bones, drumming out the answers in ways I will need one day; their hooves are giving me growing pains; I sleep like a tornado..." ["You Have Never Lived Because You Have Never Died" by Listener]

forgiven much

"Forgiven Much" by Keith Johnson

[Hat Tip: A Holy Experience]

the real question is...

"Indeed, the most ghettoized people of all, I've come to learn, are those who don't know they grew up in a particular time and place and culture, and who think they can get to universal truths outside of particular realities and commitments. There are ghettos and then there are ghettos. The real question is not whether you grow up in a ghetto, but whether the ideas and customs and rhythms of your particular ghetto prepare you to engage other ideas and customs and life experiences without losing touch with your roots."

[George Weigel]

gets busy on the proof

steering clear of what we'd like to say

Moths by Jennifer O'Grady

Adrift in the liberating, late light
of August, delicate, frivolous,
they make their way to my front porch
and flutter near the glassed-in bulb,
translucent as a thought suddenly
wondered aloud, illumining the air
that's thick with honeysuckle and dusk.
You and I are doing our best
at conversation, keeping it light, steering clear
of what we'd like to say.
You leave, and the night becomes
cluttered with moths, some tattered,
their dumbly curious filaments
startling against my cheek. How quickly,
instinctively, I brush them away.
Dazed, they cling to the outer darkness
like pale reminders of ourselves.
Others seem to want so desperately
to get inside. Months later, I'll find
the woolens, snug in their resting places,
full of missing pieces.

[Hat Tip: The Writer's Almanac]

through other people

You aren’t able to repent properly and to be alone in the heights of the love of God. That is to say, just God and you; just Christ and you. The love of Christ is offered and always passes through other people.

- Elder Porphyrios the Kapsokalyvite (1906-1991)

a necktie will make you die and cause you lots of trouble

"Cornbread and Butterbeans" by the Carolina Chocolate Drops

the most holy

“Of all holy work, the education of children is
the Most Holy.”

St Theophan the Recluse.

don't worry so much

I received your letter, my child, and I saw your anxiety. But don’t be sad, my child. Don’t worry so much. Even though you have fallen again, get up again. You have been called to a heavenly road. It is not surprising for someone running to stumble. It just takes patience and repentance at every moment.

Therefore, always do a prostration when you are wrong and don’t lose time, because the longer you wait to seek forgiveness, the more you allow the evil one to spread his roots within you. Don’t let him make roots to your detriment.

Therefore, don’t despair when you fall, but get up eagerly and do a prostration saying, “Forgive me, my dear Christ. I am human and weak.” The Lord has not abandoned you. But since you still have a great deal of worldly pride, a great deal of vainglory, our Christ lets you make mistakes and fall, so that you perceive and come to know your weakness every day, so that you become patient with others who make mistakes, and so that you do not judge the brethren when they make mistakes, but rather put up with them.

So every time you fall, get up again and at once seek forgiveness. Don’t’ hide sorrow in your heart, because sorrow and despondency are the joy of the evil one. They fill one’s soul with bitterness and give birth to many evils. Whereas the frame of mind of someone who repents says, “I have sinned! Forgive me, Father!” and he expels the sorrow. He says, “Am I not a weak human? So what do I expect?” Truly, my child, this is how it is. So take courage.

Only when the grace of God comes does a person stand on his feet. Otherwise, without grace, he always changes and always falls. So be a man and don’t be afraid at all. Acquire a brave spirit against the temptations that come. In any case, they will come. Forget about what your despondency and indolence tell you. Don’t’ be afraid of them. Just as the previous temptations passed by the grace of God, these, too, will pass once they do their job.

You should know this too: a victorious life lasting only one day with trophies and crowns is better than a negligent life lasting many years. Because one man’s struggle, with knowledge and spiritual perception that lasts one day, has the same value as another man’s struggle, who struggles negligently without knowledge for fifty years.

Without a struggle and shedding your blood, don’t expect freedom from the passions. Our earth produces thorns and thistles after the Fall. We have been ordered to clean it, but only with much pain, bloody hands, and many sighs are the thorns and thistles uprooted. So weep, shed streams of tears, and soften the earth of your heart.

Once the ground is wet, you can easily uproot the thorns. 

- Elder Joseph the Hesychast

(Hat Tip: The Handmaid Blog) 

I miss this. For real.

I miss this. For real.

cheer up my brothers, live in the sunshine

"Farther Along" by Josh Garrels (download entire album here)

Farther along we’ll know all about it
Farther along we’ll understand why
Cheer up my brothers, live in the sunshine
We’ll understand this, all by and by

Tempted and tried, I wondered why
The good man died, the bad man thrives
And Jesus cries because he loves em’ both
We’re all castaways in need of ropes
Hangin’ on by the last threads of our hope
In a house of mirrors full of smoke
Confusing illusions I’ve seen

Where did I go wrong, I sang along
To every chorus of the song
That the devil wrote like a piper at the gates
Leading mice and men down to their fates
But some will courageously escape
The seductive voice with a heart of faith
While walkin’ that line back home

So much more to life than we’ve been told
It’s full of beauty that will unfold
And shine like you struck gold my wayward son
That deadweight burden weighs a ton
Go down into the river and let it run
And wash away all the things you’ve done
Forgiveness alright

Still I get hard pressed on every side
Between the rock and a compromise
Like the truth and pack of lies fightin’ for my soul
And I’ve got no place left go
Cause I got changed by what I’ve been shown
More glory than the world has known
Keeps me ramblin’ on

Skipping like a calf loosed from its stall
I’m free to love once and for all
And even when I fall I’ll get back up
For the joy that overflows my cup
Heaven filled me with more than enough
Broke down my levee and my bluff
Let the flood wash me

And one day when the sky rolls back on us
Some rejoice and the others fuss
Cause every knee must bow and tongue confess
That the son of god is forever blessed
His is the kingdom, we’re the guests
So put your voice up to the test
Sing Lord, come soon

keep warm by kindness

"People who live in cold climes must keep warm by kindness...I think that is how every person should be. Kindness -- it's the same as having a head, a nose, a pair of feet..."

- from "A Dream in Polar Fog" by Chukchi-Russian writer Yuri Rythkeu