Opening the way for God
Let us pin ourselves down and stand before God. Shall we stand before God as sinners? Yes, let us be sinners and stand before God as such, that’s not the issue. Shall we stand before God with our weaknesses, which are a lot? Again, that’s not the problem. Shall we stand before God with our wings broken? It doesn’t matter how we stand before God. Once we are alive with our eyes wide open, once we have some contact, some communication with God and can say the prayer “Lord, have mercy”, the grace of God will make saints out of us. What prevents the grace of God from coming, what really blocks its way, are the excuses we make up and the “tantrums” we throw.
When, in a healthy way, you blame yourself, the more you go against your whims, the more alive your true self becomes. “Hit” without mercy. Blame yourself without mercy but in a healthy, not an unhealthy way.
Archimandrite Symeon Kragiopoulos (†)