Everything, except true love, is an illusion.
If a friend behaves coldly, rudely, spitefully, insolently to you, say: "This is an illusion from the enemy."
If a feeling of enmity, arising from your friend's coldness and insolence, disturbs you, say: "This is an illusion of mine, but the truth is, that I love my friend, in spite of everything, and I do not wish to see evil in him, which is an illusion of the demon, and which is in me also. I will be indulgent to his faults, for they are in me also. We have the same sinful nature."
If a friend behaves coldly, rudely, spitefully, insolently to you, say: "This is an illusion from the enemy."
If a feeling of enmity, arising from your friend's coldness and insolence, disturbs you, say: "This is an illusion of mine, but the truth is, that I love my friend, in spite of everything, and I do not wish to see evil in him, which is an illusion of the demon, and which is in me also. I will be indulgent to his faults, for they are in me also. We have the same sinful nature."
Fr John of Kronstadt, My Life in Christ
No comments:
Post a Comment