Well, it is New Year's Eve and for the past twenty years while i was still married we decided not to go out but just have two or three couples in from the neighborhood rather than be on the dangerous roads. Another thing we loved was to go to a small country church and have a candlelight service, returning home early.
So as I sit here as a single woman tonight reflecting on what is important that i want to infuse into my daily walk with the Lord i think of passages from "the Brothers Karamazov concerning "elder Zosima's teachings. this is book I never wanted to read until my son Joshua urged me to. He keeps it on his nightstand to reflect upon the spiritual passages.
If you are a writer like me and if you love the written word...reading Brothers K will seem like a great accomplishment since Bob Hope used to say "Oh, you're reading Brothers K, see ya in FIVE YEARS." IT IS ONE OF THE LONGEST NOVELS EVER WRITTEN.BY FYODOR DOSTOEVSKY who is hailed as "the finest novelist of all time"
In fact he said "If I can finish this work, I will have expressed myself completely.
His impressions of God are expressed through the main character in his book named "the Elder Zosima, a devout Monk. Here are some of his teaching that i feel are worth listening to for our coming year.
QUOTATIONS FROM THE ELDER ZOSIMA'S TEACHINGS:
Can a man Judge His fellow Men?
Above all, remember that you cannot be anyone's judge. No man on earth can judge a criminal until he understands that he himself is just as guilty as the man standing before him and that he may be more responsible than anyone else for the crime. Only when he understands this can he be a judge. Absurd though as it may sound, this is the truth. For it is possible that , if I myself had been upright, this man would not be standing before me accused of a crime. if you can accept the responsibility for the crime committed by the man standing before you, whom you are judging in your heart, then take the crime and pay for it with your own suffering and let the accused walk away without reproach. and even if the law makes you his judge, you must still endeavor to act in that same spirit for when he leaves he will condemn himself more than you could have.
Attend tirelessly to good works, if before going to sleep at night, you remember something you have not done, rise up at once and do it. If you are surrounded by wicked ruthless people who will not listen to you, go down on your knees and beg them to forgive you, for if they do not listen to you, it is through your own fault. And if they should all turn against you and these evil men still refuse to hear your words, serve them in silence and humility and never abandon HOPE. and if they should all turn away from you and drive you away by force, prostrate yourself
on the ground when you are ALL ALONE, kiss it, and wet it with your tears, and the earth will bring forth fruit from your tears, even if NO ONE SEES OR HEARS you in your solitary retreat.
Have faith to the end. Even if everyone else on earth goes ASTRAY, give life to your faith and keep PRAISING THE LORD, EVEN IF YOU ARE THE LAST OF THE FAITHFUL LEFT ON EARTH. And if you find another being who has preserved his faith, there will be a world of living LOVE, for you will fall into each others arms and praise the name of the Lord with fervor. for IN THE TWO OF YOU his truth will have been fulfilled.
Love the animals: god has given to them the beginnings of thought and untroubled JOY. so do not disturb their joy, do not torment them, do not deprive them of their well being, do no...and that is true, alas, for almost every one of us. Do not work against god's intent. Man, do not pride yourself on your superiority to the animals, for they are without sin, while you with all your greatness, you defile the earth wherever you appear and leave an ignoble trail behind you
Above all love little children, for they are sinless, like little angels, and they are there to arouse our tenderness, to purify our hearts, and in a sense to guide us. Woe to the man who offends a small child!! This is all i am going to say tonight. later i will talk about the Storm of the century and how i survived it all alone on Beech Mountain. This according to my late husband qualified me to be a TRUE MOUNTAIN WOMAN.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
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