Fam,
My attention was first caught when I randomly read this quote somewhere:
"By God's Grace I am a Christian man, by my actions a great sinner."
--The Way of a Pilgrim, R. M. French [tr.]
There's a lot of talk on "grace" nowadays. it's like the new cool word among churches. But what is grace? I already have a firm definition and examples, but I wanted to further shape my understanding of this word and how other's use it.
I also believe that reading books from other cultures and from unknown or unpopular people is helpful in expanding my perspectives and mindset. I find that a lot of Americans, not just American Christians, particularly read publications mainly from - Americans, specifically white Americans.
So after searching online where this quote came from, I bought this translated Russian book, "The Way of a Pilgrim", and began reading it. Click here for a link to purchasing the book.
At first, the book seemed a little boring as the beginning sets up the way (i.e. journey) of this pilgrim. There is no name attached to the pilgrim and not much is said of his background. But what really begins to stand out while reading through the chapters is prayer. This is a book on prayer - how a pilgrim is searching for his answer on "praying without ceasing." How is that possible?
There are a lot of great things revealed in this book especially the power and importance of simple prayer. Prayer truly does change things, no matter the length of prayer nor the difficulty of circumstances. Prayer shows trust in God.
By the end of the book, I have learned a few references by other monks and such to help me understand Christianity more. Most importantly, I have learned more about prayer and why this weapon is the most powerful.
My favorite quotes and key takeaways
- "Man is called to be by nature one with the created world and to become by grace one with God, uniting the creator with the creature."
- Engaging in prayer with Jesus takes removal of ego, belief that life is only found in God, and will for conversion (or further transformation).
- The Philokalia is a reference to another book to add onto my reading list.
- "Ceaseless interior prayer is a continual yearning of the human spirit towards God."
- "The Christian is bound to perform many good works, but before all else what he ought to do is to pray, for without prayer no other good work whatever can be accomplished. Without prayer he cannot find the way to the Lord, he cannot understand the truth, he cannot crucify the flesh with its passions and lusts, his heart cannot be enlightened with the light of Christ, he cannot be savingly united to God."
- If there's any unceasing prayer to pray, it is this: "Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me."
- "...one and the same person at one and the same time should do three quite different things. 'Seated at a table,' he says, 'supply your body with food, your ear with reading and your mind with prayer.'" This quote provides insight that one can pray without ceasing because of how God has given humans the ability to multi-function and multi-process simultaneously.
- "Quench not the Spirit."
- "...interior prayer bears fruit in three ways: in the Spirit, in the feelings, and in revelations."
- "When the soul is made holy the body becomes holy also."
- A Russian proverb: "man proposes, but God disposes." Similar to Proverbs 16:9.
- "Every feeling is base compared with the sweet knowledge of grace in the heart."
- It's not just about praying with our mouth, but more with our heart. "...you can notice for your spiritual profit that the tone of the praying voice varies with different people."
"pray without ceasing"
Conclusion
At the end of the day especially back in those days, a person didn't need to have a Bible, be able to read, be a member of a good church, frequently be in a Christian community, or even know how to pray. A person just needed to pray. Always. And then the blessing of His understanding would come.
Alleluia.
Phileo Love,
G2
