Ignorance, my child, is known as the soul’s death.
Ignorance does not enlighten a sick person; it does not say to him: “Your
illness is the will of God, and you ought to pass through it with patience and
thankfulness, so that you will not become a transgressor before God with your
impatience!” To the enlightened Christian, however, knowledge of God’s will not
only makes him bear everything with thankfulness, but also helps him acquire a
strong spiritual constitution and at the same time obtain the refreshment of
consolation. He reflects: “By undergoing these pains and afflictions I am doing
God’s will, and this will bring about the forgiveness of my previous offenses.
By paying here the debt of my sentence, I shall receive my freedom there in the
life to come, where I shall live eternally—whereas here, no matter how much
suffering I may undergo, it is temporary and short-lived.”
So my child,
we need patience so as not to be condemned with the unrepentant world.
Regardless of what might happen to us, through patience everything is put
aright, and the inner man will find peace, bearing patiently what God has
allowed.
Bear your
cross, and I shall bear mine, as we follow the heavenly Bridegroom, Christ, Who
for us ungrateful sinners bore a Cross of disgrace. What do we bear that is
equal in worth to such good things that we enjoy from God? If I were to
enumerate the blessings of God and the ingratitude of man, I think my mind
would stop; for how can the finite mind comprehend the infinite benefactions of
God towards man?
From the book
Councels from the Holy mountain
Selected from the letters and homilies of Elder Efraim
of Arizona
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