Feeding Our Soul How to Find Hope in the Face of Our Mortality

 Feeding Our Soul

How to Find Hope in the Face of Our Mortality

Earlier this week I was listening to one of the last songs recorded by Johnny Cash, probably the best country western singer of all time. The line in his song, "put me in my box on the 309", is coming from a man who was facing his own imminent death. With the loss of his beloved wife, June Carter Cash still heavy on his heart, Johnny was ready to go to God.

At seventy-five, I'm more aware than ever of my own mortality. I'm not afraid of death, but I am concerned about the monastery, for I want it to prosper beyond my life. I believe with all my heart that this place was built by God, working one miracle after another to make it happen, but like a mother who has given birth to her child, and wanting the best for him, I'm not in a hurry to leave my fellow monastics.

I want to know this monastery is on safe footing and with enough young monks to continue into the next generation before they put "my box on the 309". Like Johnny Cash in his last album, I want to share in words my life experience, and perhaps help today's young people realize the importance of making God central in their lives.

We live in an age where many are living in a constant state of listlessness, caring little about their spiritual condition, or the condition of our world. Having given themselves over to leisure pursuits and entertainment, they've become unable to be attentive to that which is of eternal importance.

As another "pandemic closure" looms on the horizon, the world seems on the brink of total meltdown, yet many fail to build a foundation that will help them face the challenges and dangers that lie ahead.

History has been filled with times like these, but the spiritually fit were the ones who came through, having been strengthened by Christ. Since in Christ we can triumph over anything, I will continue trying to encourage this new generation of young people with the wealth that can be found within the life-giving spring that is the Church.

We have before us many challenges and temptations, but we, with God’s help, will triumph. Let us now more than ever nourish our souls with the daily readings of the Holy Scriptures, while immersing ourselves in the lives of the saints, and deepening our prayer life. Let us commit to emulating the love of our Saviour, so that all those around us will behold the Light of Christ, and, together with us prepare for the good possibility that we are entering the Age of the Antichrist.

With love in Christ,

Abbot Tryphon